The Service de police de Laval (
French for ''Laval Police Service'') is the municipal police force of the city of
Laval, Quebec
Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in C ...
, north of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
. The service consists of approximately 800 officers and civilian employees.
Officer fatalities
The force has suffered two high-profile officer deaths in the line of duty in recent years.
Constable Valerie Gignac, 25, was shot and killed shortly after arriving on the scene of an argument in
Laval-des-Rapides
Laval-des-Rapides is a district in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It was a separate city until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965.
Geography
The neighbourhood is delimited on the north, north-west and west by Chomedey, on the east and north-eas ...
on December 14, 2005. The suspect, François Pépin, had a history of
mental illness, and owned a hunting rifle despite the fact he was under a firearms ban. He was known to police and had been charged before the incident with stalking another female constable.
Pépin was charged with first-degree murder in accordance with Canadian law, which stipulates this as the automatic charge in response to killing a police officer. At his trial in 2008, he pled guilty to second-degree murder and received an automatic life sentence.
On March 2, 2007, the force suffered a second loss when Constable
Daniel Tessier was killed while executing a drug raid in the city of
Brossard
Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil ...
. Tessier, who was a 17-year veteran of the force, had joined the drug squad a few days prior to his death. His alleged killer,
Basil Parasiris, was charged with first-degree murder but maintained that he was unaware it was a police raid and that he was acting in
self-defence
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...
. He was acquitted on June 13, 2008, for reason of self-defence.
Automated external defibrillators
In 2012 the Service de police de Laval purchased 22
automated external defibrillators
An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and is able to treat them thro ...
(AED) which saved 14 lives in less than 2 years. The Service de police de Laval then acquired an additional 48 AEDs. These combined 70 AEDs allow for an AED to be placed in every patrol car and community police centre.
Organization
The head of the force is Chief Pierre Brochet.
The rank structure and current strength is:
* Director (''directeur'')
* Associate director (''directeur-adjoint'')
* Assistant director (''assistant-directeur'')
* Chief inspector (''inspecteur chef'')
* Inspector (''inspecteur'')
* Lieutenant / detective lieutenant (lieutenant/''lieutenant détective'')
* Sergeant / detective sergeant (sergent/''sergent détective'')
* Constable (''agent'')
There are six ''postes de quartier'' (community police stations) situated across the city of Laval:
* CPS/PDQ 1 - Saint-François, Saint-Vincent-de Paul and Île Duvernay
* CPS/PDQ 2 - Pont-Viau, Duvernay, Laval-des-Rapides
* CPS/PDQ 3 - Chomedey
* CPS/PDQ 4 - Laval-West, Laval sur le lac and Sainte-Dorothée
* CPS/PDQ 5 - Sainte-Rose and Fabreville
* CPS/PDQ 6 - Vimont et Auteuil
See also
*
Service de police de la Ville de Montréal
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM; ) is the municipal police agency for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the neighbouring communities in the urban agglomeration of Montreal. With over 4,500 officers and more than 1,300 ...
References
External links
{{Law enforcement agencies in Canada
Laval
Politics of Laval, Quebec