SPVM radio system breakdown: Calls ‘could easily go wrong’

The Montreal Community Advanced Radio Communications System (SERAM), which provides communications for Montreal firefighters and police officers, was down for nearly two hours overnight from Saturday to Sunday due to a malfunction.

However, this outage had no impact on the authorities’ operations, since no major event occurred in Montreal during this period.

At approximately 4 a.m., service resumed.

“A plan has been put in place to ensure the safety of SPVM employees and to ensure response to emergency calls in the Montreal region,” the City of Montreal Police Service confirms in a letter sent to TVA Nouvelles.

The system, which cost more than $70 million and must remain in place until 2030, is not its first breakdown, and according to the president of the Brotherhood of Montreal Police Officers, Yves Francoeur, these outages are more frequent.

“Nowadays, it is becoming more frequent, and the breakdowns are lasting longer and longer,” he explains. It affects 911, which wants to send police officers to emergencies.

Mr. Francoeur asserts that many of the peace officers on duty intervened with violent people, and may have needed assistance from other police officers to carry out their intervention.

He added: “Fortunately, there was no unfortunate event, but we will not wait for any unfortunate event to occur to respond.” Despite the replacement [du SERAM] It seems like 2030 is planned, and we think we won’t be able to get there. There are calls that fortunately ended well, but could have easily gone wrong.

That’s why the Brotherhood of Police has asked the police to hold an emergency meeting of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee on Sunday afternoon with the City of Montreal and the SPVM.

He says: “We hope that things will go well, but we do not rule out the possibility of filing a formal complaint with the Occupational Health and Safety Committee.”

Watch the full explanation in the video above