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Metro security guards allege selection Racist for Montreal Police Force!

Selection racist, would-be metro cops allege

Accuse police; Black guards, those with most experience claim unfair rejection

MAX HARROLD

The Gazette

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Some members of the metro security guards union say the Montreal police force has unfairly refused them as candidates to become full-fledged police officers because of their race and age.

Some black officers who were rejected say they were asked racist questions during job interviews for the police positions, said Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research-

Action on Race Relations, an anti-racism advocacy group.

Other guards say the police department deliberately selected the youngest, least experienced candidates because they would start at lower salaries.

Yesterday, Niemi and CRARR filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission in the matter, but both the Montreal police force and the Montreal Transit Corp. reject the claims of race or age bias.

Under an agreement between the Montreal Transit Corp., the police and unions for the guards and police, 96 of the guards were to be integrated into the police force - and work in the metro system - early next year after undergoing physical tests, police academy exams and firearms training.

The remainder of the total complement of 153 metro guards were to be reassigned to other positions within the MTC.

Now the police force has rejected 50 guards who applied for the jobs, stating in rejection letters only that they "do not meet the criteria."

The police force says it will reassign some of its own officers to work in the transit system to make up the difference.

When some of the black guards were interviewed, Niemi said they were asked if they had prior knowledge about illegal acts of former transit guard Alain Jean-Pierre, found guilty in May of five counts of living off the avails of prostitution and one count of possession of prohibited ammunition in the form of a box of .38-calibre bullets.

The job interviewers "assumed because these guards are black, then they must be friends with Jean-Pierre (who is also black)," Niemi said.

"But he was just someone they knew from work. They were with him on one or two social occasions related to work along with white (security guards). They didn't ask the white officers who knew Jean-Pierre the same questions. That's where the discrimination comes in."

The human-rights complaint filed yesterday by CRARR was done on behalf of William Greer, 35, a metro security guard with eight years' experience.

The complaint charges the city of Montreal, as employer of the police force, with racial bias in employment in rejecting Greer, who is black, as a candidate for a police job.

"Greer is black and anglophone," Niemi said. "That's pretty rare in the city. It's already more difficult for him to find employment because he's an anglo, although he's bilingual. Most black police officers in Montreal are (French-speaking) Haitian."

But Greer is an ideal candidate for the police force, Niemi said.

"He's a graduate of the John Abbott College police technology program. Last year, he received permission from his employer to speak, in uniform, to a black youth community group in Little Burgundy. He is a role model."

Reached by phone, Greer refused to comment, citing MTC rules against employees speaking to the media. Several other metro guards also refused to speak on the record to The Gazette for the same reason.

Montreal police Inspector Paul Chablo, head of media relations for the police, flatly rejected the bias charges.

"Everyone who was refused may say it was unfair," he said. "But it was an impartial process. And we don't treat people differently because of their race or age. We certainly don't reject people for going to a party."

Chablo said the applicants can ask for more detailed reasons for their rejections and can ask for their cases to be reviewed.

Chablo said the main list of criteria for acceptance to the police force includes being a Canadian citizen, having no criminal record, having no known associations with criminals and passing police entrance exams.

MTC spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay said the new officers will take over patrolling the metro system early in 2007. The selection process agreed upon by the MTC, the police and unions for the transit guards and the police is on hold because of infighting within the guards' union, Tremblay said.

On the question of possible age discrimination, metro guard Josee Massicotte was more forthright, since she wrote a letter Sept. 29 warning Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay about problems with the hiring process.

Yesterday, she repeated the charges in the letter, saying the police deliberately selected only the youngest, least experienced candidates. These people would also cost less since starting salaries are lower, she said.

The starting salary for a metro guard is about $37,000, Massicotte said. On average, metro security agents earn $54,000 a year. The salary of a Montreal police constable, on average, is $58,550.

"Metro security will suffer because they're turning their back on the most experienced among us," said Massicotte, who until last week was also secretary of the guards' union executive, the Fraternite des constables et agents de la paix de la STM.

Massicotte said the selection process has left older officers with valuable knowledge of the metro's labyrinth of tunnels to hope for reassignment within the MTC as transit pass checkers. The average age of all of the metro guards is 41, she said.

"They're basically asking people to reapply for jobs they already have," Massicotte said. She says apart from carrying a weapon, which she calls an "additional tool," the job is essentially the same.

Massicotte, 32, is one of the rejected applicants, but she refused discuss her case because of possible legal action by the guards. But in general, the work atmosphere has suffered because of the hiring process, she said.

"We're split in two camps," Massicotte said. "You're either part of the gang who got in or you're pitied because you lost out. People look at you and think: 'Poor you, you're frustrated

because you didn't make it.' "

During a Nov. 3 meeting of the union, 91 members voted to fire the union's six-member executive, while 46 voted to keep them, said a source who was there.

Massicotte resigned as secretary before the non-confidence vote, saying she disagreed with the rest of the executive on the selection process. She plans to run for a spot on a new executive during a special assembly of the union membership, she said.

Jean-Guy Sabourin, until last week the union's president and one of four on the executive who were accepted as candidates for police jobs, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

mharrold@thegazette.canwest.com

- - -

More power,more qualifications

Metro police will:

Carry guns (as opposed to the current nightsticks)

Arrest people

Conduct criminal investigations

Work 40 hours per week

Earn between $37,689 and $59,841 (the maximum salary after seven years)

Metro police must:

Have a degree in police technology (or police management,

law or criminology)

Have a class 4A driver's licence (needed for driving an ambulance, fire truck or police vehicle)