Sûreté du Québec

The primary function of the Sûreté du Québec is to enforce provincial laws, some municipal bylaws, the Criminal Code, and many other laws throughout Quebec and to assist municipal police services when needed.

At the local level, the SQ is responsible for providing local police services to municipalities that chose not to have their own (mostly localities with populations under 50,000), in exchange for payment relative to their size. In other cities, the Sûreté du Québec can also take over crime investigations from municipal services, when required by the Police Act of the province, according to the severity of the crime and the size of the population (e.g., the SQ will take in charge any homicide with no imminent arrests in a city of less than 250,000, even if it has its own police department)[8] The SQ is usually present in smaller, rural, or suburban communities, and is not usually visible in the streets of urban centres such as Montreal and Quebec City, whose police services must provide a wide range of services and operations by law. In those cities, however, the Sûreté still has large offices where various investigations are conducted.

At the provincial level, it is responsible for actions such as patrolling the highways of Quebec, preserving the integrity of governmental institutions, coordinating large-scale investigations (such as during the biker war in the 1990s), and maintaining and sharing the criminal intelligence database of Quebec with other services.[9] In addition, the SQ can provide technical assistance to Quebec's independent investigation unit (BEI) in any incident involving possible wrongdoing by another police department, such as deaths and serious injuries. Should the SQ be involved in such an incident, assistance, if needed, will be provided either by the police services of Montreal or Quebec City.[10]

On February 1, 1870, the Quebec provincial government created the Police provinciale du Québec[11] under the direction of its first commissioner, Judge Pierre-Antoine Doucet. This new service took over the headquarters of the Quebec City municipal police, which were then disbanded, although the city relaunched a municipal service in 1877.

In 1900, two distinct provincial police services were created: the Office of Provincial Detectives of Montreal, in response to a crime wave in that city, and the Revenue Police, whose mission was to collect taxes. In 1902, the government decided that the provincial police should no longer be directed by a judge but by an officer of the police themselves. Augustin McCarthy was chosen as the first chief drawn from the ranks of the police.

In 1922, two headquarters were established, one in Quebec City, headed by McCarthy, and one in Montreal, headed by Dieudonné Daniel Lorrain. The Office of Provincial Detectives of Montreal became part of the general provincial police in that year. The Quebec division included 35 police officers and two detectives. In 1925, police officers started patrolling on motorcycles. In 1929 and 1930, the structure of the service was reformed and the agency adopted a new name as Sûreté provinciale du Québec which was later shortened to its present name.[12]

Upper floors of the SQ headquarters in Montreal.

1. Bas-Saint-Laurent-Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine
2. Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
3. Capitale-Nationale-Chaudière-Appalaches
4. Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec
5. Estrie
6. Montréal-Laval-Laurentides-Lanaudière
7. Outaouais
8. Abitibi-Témiscamingue-Nord-du-Québec
9. Côte-Nord
10. Montérégie

Rank insignia of the Sûreté du Québec are on contained on slip-on sleeves, worn on the epaulettes of uniform jacket or shirt shoulders.

Constables (Agent) do not have any insignia on their uniform. The SQ formerly had the rank of Corporal above Constable rank. Team leaders have an epaulette with the words Chef d'équipe.

Ranks of Sûreté du Québec[15][16]
General staff officers		Officers				Sub-Officers	Agents
Directeur general	Directeur adjoint	Inspecteur chef	Inspecteur	Capitaine	Lieutenant	Sergent	Chef d'equip	Agent
Director general of the SQ	Associate director	Chief Inspector	Inspector	Captain	Lieutenant	Sergeant	Team Leader	Constable
								No insignia

Early uniforms were British in origin, including the use of the custodian helmet, with the kepi later added as well.[17] The service adopted a uniform with a more distinct green tone, as well as a peaked cap, in the 1960s.[18]

The emblem of the service changed in the 1970s, when the old provincial coat of arms gave way to the fleur-de-lis.

In late 2016, Martin Prud'Homme, Director General of the SQ, announced the uniforms would be changed. Shirts and coats will be of a darker shade of olive green; patches, caps, and bulletproof vests will become black, and pants blue-black. One of the justifications for the changes was that the old green uniform was too similar to that of a soldier's.[19]

• 
  Uniform of early 1990s, during the Oka Crisis
• 
  An SQ agent with a pre-2016 uniform observing the border with a RCMP agent
• 
  Riot gear (2012 student protests, Montreal)

Beginning progressively in 2017, marked patrol cars are set to become black with white doors, on which the word "POLICE" will be more evident.[20]

Dodge Charger with pre-2017 styling

Ford Police Interceptor Utility with post-2017 styling

A helicopter during the 2012 student protests

Cars:

• Chevrolet Impala
• Chevrolet Tahoe
• Dodge Charger
• Ford Police Interceptor Utility
• Ford Taurus

Trucks:

• Dodge Dakota
• Ford E-250
• Ford F-350
• Ford F-450
• Ram 2500 pickup

Motorcycles:

• BMW police motorcycle
• Mikado bicycles

Special Vehicles:

• Prevost Car Command Post
• Hummer H1 armoured truck
• International 7500 support vehicle
• APC
• Cambli International Thunder 1 ARV (with International 7500 chassis)[21]

Air:

• Bell 206
• Bell 206 LT
• Bell 412

Sea:

• Doral patrol boat
• Bombardier Sea-doo

Wild:

• Bombardier Ski-doo snowmobile
• Grizzly ATV

The standard-issue weapon of the SQ is the Glock pistol, loaded in 9×19mm Parabellum caliber. Various models have been adopted, such as the standard Glock 17 Gen 3, compact Glock 19, and sub-compact Glock 26. Tactical officers used the CQB Close Quarter Battle combat rifle, a variant of the Colt Canada C8 rifle.

Prior to the Glock pistols, officers carried .357 Magnum revolvers, which were replaced with the Glock 17 in 2001.[22]

The Sûreté du Québec has become well known internationally through the fictional Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues, created by Canadian author Louise Penny who lives in Quebec. Penny's works have been recognised in Quebec by her being made a Member of the Order of Quebec.[23]

• Service de police de la Ville de Montréal
• State police
• Ontario Provincial Police
• Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
• Newfoundland Rangers
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sûreté du Québec.

Look up sûreté du québec in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Sûreté du Québec website (limited English site)
• PoliceCanada link
• Five arrested in Canada after C$2 million armoured car robbery at Wikinews