Saint-Eustache PD engaged in the fight against domestic violence

The Saint Eustache Police Department announced the implementation of the PIVOT Project (Intervention Project Aiming to better use Witnesses), an innovative initiative of the SPVSE (Service de police de la Ville de Saint-Eustache) aimed at combating the problem of domestic violence. To this end, the SPVSE will shortly proceed with the hiring of a social worker or a social worker whose specific mandate will be to provide a safety net for victims and to work upstream of situations of domestic violence.

The announcement was done in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Security, Minister Deputy Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie and Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region, Ms. Geneviève Guilbault, and the Member for Deux-Montagnes and Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Minister responsible for Fight against racism and Minister responsible for Laval, Mr. Benoit Charette as well as the mayor of Saint-Eustache, Mr. Pierre Charron, and the director of the Police Department of the City of Saint-Eustache (SPVSE), Mr. Thierry Vallières.

 

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Just as for the provincial and municipal police forces, intervention in the context of domestic violence is one of the main concerns of the SPVSE. At present, police interventions, although they respect established protocols and guidelines, do not effectively guarantee a reassuring safety net for victims.

As of 2017, keen to support its vulnerable clientele and act quickly on various issues experienced by victims (domestic violence, consumption or mental health problems, bereavement, accidents, disasters, etc.), the SPVSE incorporated a social worker within its department. By directly accompanying the victims to the scene with the patrollers, she was able to guide these people to specialized resources, in addition to helping to make the police aware of the issues related to domestic and family violence.

However, this addition did not allow them to work as effectively on these situations, thus preventing possible tragic events. The implementation of the PIVOT Project therefore aims to meet this need and intervene with victims and people adopting violent behavior. In particular, it will make it possible to offer alternative solutions to the legal system to better meet the expectations of victims, to intervene with aggressors in order to make them responsible for their behavior, to be available when the victim or the aggressor presents a, appropriate for them, need at the time, and to offer an appropriate intervention, regardless of the filing of an accusation by the victim, the outcome of it or the involvement of the legal system.

According to the terms of the three-year agreement, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec grants the City of Saint-Eustache a maximum subsidy of $ 202,590, which represents in proportion 90% of the related annual expenses for the implementation of the PIVOT Project within the SPVSE. In return, the City of Saint-Eustache undertakes to produce an annual report showing the operations carried out, their results as well as the evolution of the problems of conjugal and intra-family violence in the territory.

“One of our government’s priorities is to prevent domestic violence. I welcome the initiative of the SPVSE, because the PIVOT Project fits perfectly into the spirit of our action and responds to the objectives, we have set for ourselves. Like the Sûreté du Québec and the police services of Terrebonne and Montreal among others, which have already presented projects and obtained grants to put in place measures to prevent domestic violence, the SPVSE is now a model for all police forces in Quebec. With this kind of project, added to the anti-reconciliation bracelets that we announced last week and whose deployment is scheduled over two years, everyone will be better equipped to stop violence against women,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Security, Deputy Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie and Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region.

“Already well served by a caring and efficient police force, the population of the MRC de Saint-Eustache will certainly be reassured to know that they are adequately equipped to climb the uphill road of situations of domestic violence. In addition to helping to prevent tragic outcomes, this new service of the SPVSE could very well, and I hope, improve the feeling of security and the overall quality of life of people who have chosen to live in the region. Added Benoit Charette, the Member of Parliament for Deux-Montagnes, Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Minister responsible for the Fight against Racism and Minister responsible for the Laval region. The mayor of Saint-Eustache, Mr. Pierre Charron chimed in as well. “It is with great satisfaction that we obtained confirmation that the Ministry of Public Security has agreed to grant the City of Saint-Eustache a grant that will allow it to improve the social intervention offer at the SPVSE,” and to influence the trajectory of the services offered, to both victims and aggressors, through a concerted approach.” he said.