All eyes will be on Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher on Tuesday evening when he offers a long-awaited update on the explosive allegations of racist abuse that rocked the force back in June.

Dagher and his team are scheduled to answer questions from citizens as well as members of the city’s public security commission at city hall for the first time since the bomb dropped that two officers had been suspended and 14 others reassigned from Station 39 in Montreal North amid reports of what Dagher called “unacceptable behaviour.”

The allegations that members of a patrol group of mainly young male officers were singling out Black and Arab men on their territory and may have taken locks of their hair as trophies sent shock waves through the city, sparked outrage among political leaders and the population alike, reignited concerns about discrimination by law enforcement, and dealt a blow to public trust in the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal.

It was a moment of crisis for a department that had been trying to undertake a culture change to address painful episodes in its past.

But only 10 days after the turmoil came to light, the SPVM was struck by tragedy.

A shootout in Côte-des-Neiges left a cop and a bystander dead. The department was plunged into mourning for Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, the first Montreal police officer killed in the line of duty in 24 years.

That very day, Dagher had been due to meet........

© Montreal Gazette