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Politics21 outlets ran this3 min read

Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations

The suspension is part of an ongoing investigation into misconduct at Station 39, which has since been dissolved.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Montreal police chief Fady Dagher speaks in Montreal on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

What this story says

  • A fourth Montreal police officer has been suspended due to allegations of racism and misconduct.
  • The incidents are alleged to have occurred while the officer was working in Station 39, a unit that was dissolved in June.
  • The suspension took effect on August 19, according to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
  • Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher announced in June that 16 officers from Station 39 were under investigation.

Who covered it

Left 48%(10)Centre 42%(9)Right 10%(2)

Percentages are shares of the 21 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

59/100

Hype

20/100

21 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

Only 2 of the 21 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

A fourth police officer has been suspended in connection with racism allegations at Station 39 in Montreal. The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) confirmed the suspension, which took effect on August 19. The alleged incidents are reported to have occurred while the officer was working in the unit, which was dissolved in June over allegations of misconduct and racism. Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher announced in June that 16 officers from Station 39 were under investigation.

Disagreement on details of allegations

While most reports state the allegations involve racism and misconduct, CBC News specifies they were "racist and hateful acts allegedly committed against Black and Arab people during police stops." CBC News also reports that Chief Dagher stated in June that possible criminal charges could be brought against some officers. The SPVM has not disclosed further details on the nature of the allegations.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests or full reports mention the specific date of August 11, when Chief Dagher announced the suspension in a public meeting. None of the right-rated reports mention that 16 officers were under investigation, nor do they specify that the alleged incidents took place while the officer was working in the unit that was dissolved in June.

Tags:#MontrealPolice#RacismAllegations#PoliceMisconduct#SPVM#Station39

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 25 Aug 2026, 22:15, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

SPVM Chief Fady Dagher revealed in June that 16 officers at Station 39 were being investigated for racist and hateful acts allegedly committed against Black and Arab people during police stops. (Simon-Marc Charron/CBC)
CBC NewsLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

10 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports focused on the suspension of the fourth officer and the ongoing investigation into racism and misconduct at Station 39. Multiple outlets noted that the unit was dissolved in June. CBC News reported that the alleged acts were "racist and hateful acts allegedly committed against Black and Arab people during police stops" and that Chief Dagher had indicated possible criminal charges could be laid. CBC News also mentioned that other officers under investigation were reassigned or transferred. Several digests from this group included details about allegations that officers on the 16-member unit cut the hair of racialized citizens and kept it as trophies.

Centre

9 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports highlighted the suspension of the fourth officer and the connection to racism allegations at Station 39. They noted the unit's dissolution in June and the overall investigation involving 16 officers. Digests from this group, such as meadowlakeNOW and Medicine Hat News, included specific allegations that officers on the 16-member unit cut the hair of racialized citizens and kept it as trophies. City News reported that the alleged offences took place while the officer was working for the night patrol unit at the station.

Right

2 rated outlets

  • The right-rated report from Montreal Gazette focused on the suspension of a fourth officer in Montreal North amid a racism investigation. It stated the suspension took effect August 19, according to police.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations?
Of the 21 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 48% are rated left, 42% are rated centre, 10% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 21 rated outlets on this story, 48% are rated left, 42% are rated centre, 10% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations biased?
Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations is one event reported by 21 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Fourth Montreal police officer suspended over racism allegations?
21 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many police officers are being investigated?
Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher announced in June that 16 officers from Station 39 were under investigation for alleged racist and hateful acts. The suspension of a fourth officer is part of this ongoing investigation.
When did the suspension take effect?
The suspension of the fourth officer took effect on August 19. This is part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of racism and misconduct within the now-dissolved Station 39 unit.
What was Station 39?
Station 39 was a patrol unit within the Montreal police force that was dissolved in June. It is currently the subject of an investigation involving 16 officers due to allegations of racism and misconduct.

Read it at the source

21 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

10
Show 2 more

Centre

9
Show 1 more

Right

2

Not rated

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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