Police Tickets For COVID-19 Rule Breakers Plummeted Over The Holidays In Montreal
In a tweet on January 5, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal provided an update on the number of COVID-19-related inspections it conducted, tip line calls it received and tickets it issued in the days following Christmas.
According to the tweet, the Montreal police received 903 calls with tips about potential public health violations between December 28 and January 3.
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95%
Decrease in COVID-19-related tickets issued in Montreal
The police issued 16 statements of offence or general offence reports in the same time period.
Last week's tip line calls increased by 30%, compared to the week of December 21 to December 27.
While tip line calls increased, tickets issued to Montrealers decreased dramatically.
From December 14 to December 20, police issued 353 statements of offence or general offence reports to people violating COVID-19 red-zone rules in Montreal.
They issued 34 statements of offence or general offence reports between December 21 and 27.
By the week of December 28, that number was just 16 — a 95% decrease compared to the week of December 14.
However, the SPVM says that 289 other tickets may be issued retroactively for the holiday period, after analyzing the files.
Inspections in the city plunged by 93% during the weeks following December 21.
Between December 21 and 27, the SPVM inspected a total of 7,875 businesses in Montreal, including two licensed establishments, as well as 31 "other" locations.
In contrast, police only inspected around 516 Montreal locations between December 28 and January 3.