
Last week, as tension mounted in Ferguson, Missouri over a recently leaked autopsy that supported the police account of the shooting of Michael Brown, Montreal was also coming to grips with issues of police violence and impunity as developments in two recent police-related deaths in Quebec thrust the issue back into the spotlight.The Justice for Victims of Police Killings Coalition held its fifth Annual October 22 Commemorative Gathering & Vigil. The Coalition Against Repression and Police Abuse—created in the wake of the death of 18-year old Fredy Villanueva in 2008—has documented hundreds of people killed in police-related incidents in Canada since 1987. Two of the most recent additions are Alain Magloire and Guy Blouin, whose cases sparked controversy for the questionable handling by police.
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Asked if the officers involved had tried to call one of the units that specialize in mental health interventions in Montreal such as Urgence Psychosociale-Justice (UPS-J), SPVM communications officer Mélanie Lajoie said she couldn't comment on specifics of the case as a coroner's public investigation has been ordered.To shoot or not to shoot?The tragic shooting is not the first time the Quebec's coroner's office has ordered a public investigation into the police-related deaths of people with mental health issues, the past results of which have indicated a serious need for better handling of similar situations. In a December 4, 2012 report about the death of Mario Hamel and Patrick Limoges, coroner Jean Brochu noted: "Several events in recent years indicate that a major effort is needed to avoid a situation like that of June 7, 2011 deteriorating to the point where there is no alternative left but to use a firearm against a person who is visibly in an unstable mental state."
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