The Sûreté du Québec
Our mission
The Sûreté du Québec, as the national police force, contributes throughout the territory of Québec, to maintaining peace and public order, preserving life, safety and fundamental human rights and protecting property. The Sûreté du Québec also supports the police community, coordinates major police operations, contributes to the integrity of governmental institutions and ensures the safety of transport networks under Québec jurisdiction.
Over 135 years of expertise
The Sûreté du Québec was created in 1870. It is the only Québec police organization to have jurisdiction over all of Québec and to carry out such a wide variety of mandates. It operates at all levels and in all sectors of public security, including police activities in the municipalities it serves, road safety interventions and local and international criminal investigations. As a national police force providing services to citizens, other police organizations and the State, the Sûreté du Québec is also a leader in specialized service delivery, especially in terms of criminal investigations and emergency measures, thanks to the expertise of its police and civilian personnel and to its use of advanced technologies.
Three main service categories
The services of the Sûreté du Québec fall under three main categories: national, specialized and general. These three areas are complementary, guaranteeing the State and the citizens a full range of police services. Some of these services are exclusive to the Sûreté du Québec, while others are offered in partnership or in conjunction with police organizations and agencies that share the Sûreté du Québec’s mission.
National services government and police community support
The Sûreté du Québec travels over 70 million kilometres per year on our network of roads and highways. It also endeavours to maintain the safety of snowmobile trails and bodies of water in the territories it serves. With these services, the Sûreté du Québec contributes to the safety of public figures, the integrity of government institutions and the safety of transport networks under Québec jurisdiction. The Sûreté du Québec also acts as a liaison with Canadian and international forces during important police activities. As part of its provincial responsibilities, it provides support services during serious events or phenomena, such as serial or interregional network crimes, disasters or civil disorder. To respond to such situations, it provides Québec police services with specialists in various fields, including forensic identification, scuba diving, cyberveillance, profiling, interventions during hostage taking, and electronic surveillance.
The following mandates are exclusive to the Sûreté du Québec:
- Management of the Centre de renseignements policiers du Québec (CRPQ), a databank that is put at the disposal of other police services;
- Gun control and regulations governing explosives;
- Enforcement of the Highway Safety Code on Québec highways;
- Coordination of joint regional squads on organized crime, made up of representatives of various police services, in Québec;
- Protection of public figures;
- Protection of the National Assembly;
- Maintenance of a permanent emergency unit.
Specialized services expertise and advanced tools
Called to play a leading role in situations that are particularly demanding owing to their scope or complexity, the Sûreté du Québec relies on the ongoing training of its various specialists and on the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment to always provide the best possible response. To accomplish this, it maintains and develops expertise in various areas such as investigations into road collisions, forensic accounting, criminal intelligence, statement analysis, DNA fingerprinting, composite sketches, audio and video interrogations, air surveillance and crowd control, to name but a few. General services security of local communities The Sûreté du Québec also has an important mandate to serve local communities. It provides front-line services in over 1,200 municipalities divided into 85 RCMs (regional county municipalities). More than half the police force is assigned to RCMs, each of which is served exclusively by one station. Depending on the size of the RCM, an auxiliary station is sometimes added to the main station. These front-line services include various forms of police intervention, prevention, investigations and continuous patrol. To offer these services, the Sûreté du Québec uses a community approach it has dubbed local policing. The Sûreté du Québec serves RCMs through a service agreement negotiated with local elected officers. This approach helps to establish connections with citizens and provides a better understanding of local needs and realities.
The cornerstones of local policing
To ensure a safe and peaceful environment, the Sûreté du Québec relies on five major principles:
- The familiar presence of police officers
Patrol officers and investigators are assigned to a geographical area on a long-term basis. Regular interventions in a particular sector or municipality allow SQ representatives to form and maintain close ties with residents. - Customer consultation
Through an ongoing consultation process, the Sûreté du Québecis kept abreast of the people’s expectations and needs. It also receives requests from public security committees set up in each RCM. - The quality of citizen service
The Sûreté du Québec does everything possible to provide easily accessible, quality services. Citizens can reach a police officer at any time to obtain necessary services or information. - Partnership with the people
Community participation enhances public security through a sharing of responsibilities among the police, citizens and community agencies. - The resolution of local public security problems
The people’s cooperation in identifying public security problems, analyzing their causes and finding solutions helps to solve numerous local problems that are of concern to citizens. This type of concerted intervention provides long-lasting solutions to problems such as speeding and petty crime.