Another day, another damning report involving alleged corruption within the ranks of the SPVM.
According to Cogeco News, at least one officer at Station 22 on Papineau Blvd. near the corner of Rene-Levesque handed out tickets to Montrealers without ever being at the scene.
The report claimed the officer is not fond of handing out the infractions, and risks missing quotas set by the department. To help, another officer has been replacing their own information with their colleague's on tickets they give to citizens.
Not only is this a breach of ethics, it is also illegal.
By switching information the officer is falsifying documents and creating a statement of offence involving the name and information of someone who was never at the scene, who could be called to testify against someone without ever witnessing a crime.
The alleged ticket fraud was brought to the attention of the commander at the time, but the offending officer was never sanctioned or penalized. The commander reportedly tossed aside the allegations and had a one on one meeting with the officer.
The individuals who tried to blow the whistle on the illegal activity told Cogeco they were stigmatized and humiliated. They said not long after they tried to right the wrong a fake job posting was passed around, which called for new officers who were discreet, silent and showed no ambition.
The SPVM would not comment on the report, only saying the allegations are very worrying.