Due to the climate of tension that has increased in North America in recent years, police officers equipped with long weapons will now be visible during major events in Quebec to react more effectively if necessary.
This new strategy of the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) will be used from the 2025 version of the Quebec Summer Festival, which will open on July 3.
A certain proportion of the police, trained and certified, which will be deployed on the ground will therefore carry a HK 416, a semi-automatic 223 caliber weapon.
The new strategy will be used from the next edition of the FEQ on July 3.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
They will be in fixed positions, along the perimeter of events, so as to react quickly in the event of a problem.
“The long weapon will bring an increased clarification, scope and capacity compared to the service weapon,” explains Captain Alain Bernier, responsible for the training and employment of force at the SPVQ.
Captain Alain Bernier, from the Quebec police, explains that police officers with long weapons will be visible during major events.
Photo Jérémy Bernier
“We will be able to take action more effectively and at a distance that would normally be inaccessible to us,” he said.
A deterrent effect
This is a first for the police body of the old capital, which is in particular inspired by the authorities of Vancouver, where this practice has been used since 2018.
The weapon used will be an HK 416, a semi-automatic 223 caliber weapon.
Photo Jérémy Bernier
The organization is well aware that this new strategy may surprise, but it considers that it is a necessary action to ensure the security of the population.
The SPVQ stresses that these weapons were already used in the past, but that they were invisible to the public, in patrol vehicles, which could cause intervention times.
“There is also a deterrent objective of malicious people who would have the idea of acting during major events,” added Captain Bernier.
Increased social tension
The police body says it has made this decision in response to the social tensions observed in North America, which are a new reality.
We can notably think of the teller truck that rushed into a crowd in Vancouver last April, killing 11 people, or of the similar event in New Orleans on 1is last January.
Captain Bernier specifies that this is a prevention strategy and that there are no direct fears for Quebec City.
Photo Jérémy Bernier
“We have evolved with the various tragic events that we have experienced, in particular that of the [tuerie] From the Great Mosque in 2017, and we adjust in relation to new world realities, ”says Mr. Bernier.
The latter, however, wishes to reassure the population: there are no elements that suggest that there is an imminent danger for Quebec City.
“But we know that we are not immune that it can happen tomorrow, for example,” he concludes.
The HK 416
- A semi-automatic weapon
- 223 caliber rifle
- The GTI uses a similar model, but with greater firepower
- Coming from the German firm Heckler & Koch
- Equipped with a red stitch viewfinder, an acog viewfinder and an over -defire lamp
- Acquired by the Quebec Police in 2013
- Do not generate additional costs for the police coverage of major events, as the SPVQ already had the necessary copies
Source: Heckler & Koch et SPVQ
