Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM)
The SPVM recovers a vehicle that had been stolen. It has it towed and stored for the purposes of its police investigation which lasts 39 days.
Afterwards, the SPVM notifies the owner that in order to recover her vehicle, she has to pay the storage costs covering the duration of the police investigation, and then claim a refund with the Bureau des réclamations. These costs amount to $1,350. The citizen turns to our office.
Yet, in 2008, following a similar intervention from our office, the SPVM had issued an instruction confirming that the innocent victim of a car theft does not have to personally pay for storage expenses incurred due to a police investigation. Current SPVM management was seemingly not aware of this policy.
After some research, the SPVM tracks down the document stating this policy. The citizen recovers her vehicle without having to pay the amount of $1,350.
The SPVM issues a reminder of this policy to all impacted stakeholders in order to prevent the recurrence of a similar situation. Management further assures us that this rule will be clearly laid out in the local procedures which are currently being revised.
