Opinion: Police body cameras are not the answer More than anything, body cameras provide a distraction from the more fundamental questions being raised by the movement to defund the police.
Author of the article: Justin Doucet and Ted Rutland • Special to Montreal Gazette
Publishing date: Feb 18, 2021 • February 18, 2021 • 3 minute read • A body camera on a police vest is photographed during the launch of a pilot project on May 18, 2016 at City Hall. At a time when viral cellphone videos of police violence draw much attention on social media, the promise of more footage of police interactions has an obvious appeal. Sadly, research on body cams does not support these hopes, Justin Doucet and Ted Rutland write. Photo by Marie-France Coallier /Montreal Gazette
In the agenda for Montreal s City Council on Monday, January 25, a "Non-partisan motion calling on the City of Montreal to urge the government to Canadian to decriminalize simple possession of drugs for personal use" is set to be debated.
A press release about the subject asks that the City of Montréal "undertake as quickly as possible steps to request a city-wide exemption from the Government of Canada to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act."
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In Canada, there is a simple and immediate solution to the harms of punitive drug policies.
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This motion is being discussed at a time when Montreal "is experiencing an unprecedented number of overdose deaths."
Last week, a virtual conference was held by the Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec (AIDQ), the Association québécoise pou