In collaboration with the Société de développement social, the mobile team is currently available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in 4 boroughs: Ville-Marie, Le Sud-Ouest, Le Plateau Mont-Royal and Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

Social intervention to de-escalate conflicts

The mobile team uses social intervention and mediation to de-escalate volatile or disturbing situations, refer at-risk individuals to appropriate community resources and apply prevention strategies while maintaining a visible presence in public places. 

In this regard, it aims to create a number of positive transformations that benefit residents, neighbourhoods and community networks, such as:

• Offering an alternative to police intervention
• Facilitating access to social, health or community services to vulnerable or at-risk people
• Keeping vulnerable people out of the legal system 
• Improving social cohabitation among different groups who share public space 
• Increasing public feeling of safety

Social mediators in public places

Several civilian social workers are part of this project, which the first of its kind that has been developed by a Québec municipality. To improve social cohabitation, these workers, who are easily identifiable, travel by car. They can respond to both:

• The Montréal police department, offering a more adaptable response to non-urgent, non-criminal calls.
• Residents, merchants, community organizations, municipal services or boroughs involved in a social cohabitation issue.

The mobile team is different from street work or mixed response teams (such as both police and social workers) in that it takes action in non-urgent, non-criminal situations that require an occasional and/or immediate  response. The team does not offer follow-up services. Instead, it complements other existing services and resources.

Depending on situations and needs, the team’s response or mediation may include the following services:  

• Referral or relay to available community and institutional resources
• Escorting people in vulnerable or at-risk situations by car to these community and institutional resources
• Information and awareness-raising for all parties (rights and responsibilities, explanations of realities, training, etc.)
• Verbal agreements between parties to resolve conflicts concerning social cohabitation in public spaces.

Contacts

Do you live or run a business in Ville-Marie, Le Sud-Ouest, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal or Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve? Are you experiencing issues related to social cohabitation?

Contact the mobile mediation and social intervention team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at [email protected]

In the event of an emergency, call 911. 

For any other questions related to social cohabitation, call 311.