Montreal police declare state of emergency

“Inspectors, or even police officers who carry out administrative tasks, could be called to patrol the streets,” Durocher said according to Global News.

The police force can use the state of emergency to reassign staff into whatever areas are needed at the moment. It also gives them the ability to modify their schedules.

Montreal police are currently planning ways to offload certain activities, in particular administrative tasks that may need to be done by other officers should the virus take out some of their staff.

“If you end up with a large number of quarantined police officers, you must be able to call on fresh forces,” said Durocher.

One change will be the hours police officers work, changing from the usual 8.5 hour shift to a 12-hour shifts.

Durocher spoke to the press and to assure the public that the noted the state of emergency “does not change anything for citizens,” only the police department for the time being.

This is the first time the police have declared a state of emergency since 1998, amidst the now-infamous January ice storm that took the lives of nearly 30 people.