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A new immersion training exposes the scope of the problem: “It touches everyone: Every neighbourhood in Montreal, every social class, every profession.”

Over the course of five weeks, 20 new Montreal police officers underwent a training to immerse them in the realities they’ll face in the city. A first for the SPVM, the program was an eye-opening experience for most. The Montreal Gazette followed them throughout. In some instances, only first names are used to shield the identities of participants. 
The woman sits at a table in the basement of a Montreal shelter for women fleeing domestic violence. Walking an intervention worker through the extreme abuse she’s suffered, she’s overtaken by emotions. She drops her head to the table and lets out loud sobs. Her hands grip the wooden chair.

The sounds come back to me, the fear comes back to me,” the woman says. “It’s so unfair.” The worker reminds her she’s safe. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, she says. “Just breathe,” she repeats. “You are OK.” Sitting off to the side in street clothes are two female Montreal police recruits, 21 and 23 years old. Straight-faced, they’ll later say it took everything they had to fight back tears.

The recruits are spending the day at the shelter as part of a new five-week “immersion” training the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) is having all new officers do. The goal is to help them understand the issues they will face in the city. On the day they visit, in mid-October, all but two of the shelter’s 24 rooms are occupied. They’re reserved for women, but also their children. Domestic violence was chosen as one of the training program’s five main themes because of the magnitude of the problem.