More room for police officers in Pointe Claire

Police Station 5, which serves the municipalities of Pointe Claire and Dorval in the West Island, is slated for a make-over in 2010, giving its 86-person personnel a little bit more room to breathe as they go about their day-to-day work.

"It's especially over the last two years that we started to feel (it getting tight)," explained Station 5's commander Jacquelin Saint Pierre to The Chronicle over the telephone.

No contract has been awarded to construction workers yet, but at its June meeting Pointe Claire's city council agreed to create a selection committee which would be in charge of setting up criteria for construction and eventually selecting a contractor.

"The existing space will be expanded by about 40 per cent," explained Pointe Claire's city clerk Jean-Denis Jacob.

According to Saint Pierre, staff at the station has expanded over the last four years, with two community relations officers instead of a single one, and specialized teams such as its Project-based action module (or MAP, Module D'action par projet, in French).

"There is a functional plan in place," said Saint Pierre, adding all stations on the Island of Montreal are slated for an expansion, not just the one in Pointe Claire.

Over the last few years, many police stations on the Island of Montreal closed or merged in an attempt to make coverage along the territory more streamlined and adequate, according to Montreal Police's official website.

In the West Island, police station 2, which used to cover Ile Bizard, was merged with Pierrefonds/Roxboro's Station 3 in 2003.

And last year, that station closed one of its outposts on Gouin Boulevard to the public, cutting down staff that it moved to its Paiement Street location instead. As of today, police have not yet been able to find a more central location for Station 3.

Montreal spokesperson Bernard Larin confirmed Station 5's expansion is set to begin in 2010. "The police service is a Montreal agglomeration council responsibility," he added, confirming the bill for the expansion would be coming out of the entire agglomeration council's pockets, though the building in question is owned by Pointe Claire.