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This paper examines the work of the SPCUM as it tackles the on-going street gang issue in Montreal. The paper is divided into six sections, beginning with a brief description of the nature of the study and the methodology used. The second section presents the theoretical framework and the main concepts employed, namely "racialization" and the "typification/stereotype dilemma." Section III presents the police definition of street gangs and a short history of the phenomenon. Section IV analyzes the racialization process and the significance of ethnicity for understanding street gangs, discusses "multi-ethnic" and "Quebecois" gangs, and goes on to examine the typification/stereotype dilemma faced by Montreal police officers. Police intervention strategies are outlined in section V, and finally, the paper concludes with section VI, highlighting some of the important daily challenges facing police in a multi-racial/multi-ethnic urban centre like Montreal.
Cet article examine les efforts mis en oeuvre par le SPCUM pour lutter contre les gangs de rue, phenomene qui se produit a Montreal. Cet article est divise en six parties. Apres avoir decrit brievement la nature de notre etude ainsi que la methodologie employee, nous presentons le cadre theorique et les principaux concepts utilises. La troisieme partie presente le point de vue de la police quant a la definition d'un gang de rue et propose l'historique abregee du phenomene. La quatrieme partie analyse d'une part, le processus de racialisation et la signification de l'ethnicite pour la comprehension des gangs de rue, et aborde, d'autre part, le phenomene des gangs "multiethniques" et "quebecois." Cette partie se termine sur l'examen du dilemme du recours au stereotype et a la categorisation auquel sont confrontes les officiers de police. Enfin, la cinquieme partie traite des strategies d'intervention mises en oeuvre par la police. En conclusion, nous mettons en relief quelques uns des defis quotidiens auxquels sont confrontes les policiers dans une ville aussi multiethnique que Montreal.
In 1995, the Police Service of Montreal (SPCUM(f.2)) reported that at the end of the previous year, "59 street gangs were active in Montreal, with membership estimated at 1,300 teenagers ranging from 15 to 19 years of age" (SPCUM, 1995). These statistics were disturbing for the city, and on June 19, 1996, the Urban Community Council of Montreal adopted a resolution making...