Shelter in place: neighborhood policing of homelessness in Montreal, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Montreal police officers are increasingly called on to respond to visible homelessness. While previous research has focused on strategies of containment or banishment (where individuals experiencing homelessness are removed from certain areas of the city to more homelessness resource–rich areas by the police or expelled entirely), this study presents evidence of a different strategy: that of maintaining individuals within a given neighborhood. Drawing on 29 semi-structured interviews conducted with officers from the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (City of Montreal Police Service or SPVM) about the nature of their work with homeless individuals, a neighborhood-level analysis of these interventions found that officers often saw the neighborhood location of a homeless individual as key. The findings revealed officers bonding and creating alliances with homeless individuals, the presence of neighborhood-specific homelessness resources as central to their interventions, and a concern around the migration of homeless individuals from one area of the city to another. In addressing the role of police officers in frontline interventions with individuals experiencing homelessness, a consideration of the centrality of the precinct neighborhood is essential.