Montreal police under probe for cutting Black residents' locs and keeping them as trophies

On June 12, Montreal police chief Fady Dagher disclosed that sixteen officers from the same precinct are being investigated for racist conduct, including forcibly cutting locs from Black and Arab citizens and retaining the hair as trophies. Historians Charmaine Nelson and Aly Ndiaye said that the act mirrors historic slave-era practices of head shaving and lynching, where perpetrators collected body parts to assert dominance.

Nelson emphasized that locs hold spiritual and cultural meaning, making the alleged assault a profound violation of bodily integrity. Ndiaye traced the roots of such violence to colonial control over Black identity and noted that modern policing in Quebec still reflects those oppressive structures. The allegations have sparked renewed calls for accountability within the Montreal police service, and Dagher pledged a thorough inquiry, though observers doubt swift resolution.