Montreal remains a relatively low‑crime city, police say. But youth are getting involved in criminal activity at younger ages than before — sometimes as young as 14 or 15.
Former Montreal police lieutenant and detective Pietro Poletti says the growing concern is not just peer pressure, but adults actively recruiting teenagers to commit crimes.
“Juvenile crime has always existed. But what is a new trend is that the adults are recruiting these young individuals to fulfill their personal needs of either executing contracts, killing arson, you name it,” said Pietro Pelotti, an ex‑lieutenant & detective with Montreal police.
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That shift is now being felt by some families on the ground. An organization working to address youth violence brought its message to Montreal, focusing on prevention and early intervention.
“We started in the states in 2018 in Jackson, Mississippi that was our first one and from there it’s just sprouted so we’re all over now, so we’d like to bring them here to Montreal to start establishing them more here,” said Josiah Israel, an instructor of a Youth Violence Conflict Resolution Seminar.
Pelotti says criminal networks are increasingly keeping their distance, getting young people to do the work, knowing the consequences for minors are often less severe.
“Their values and ethics and moral ethics have changed. So they have no scruples and they’ll recruit young individuals to commit the crimes that usually were done by adults before,” said Pelotti.
“The younger they are the quicker they are to go to crime and whatnot and they’re not they don’t have a vision they don’t have a platform and people to focus on a guide to say okay who can we follow just doing the right things,” said Josiah Israel.
Preventing youth crime is now one of the SPVM’s top priorities for 2026. Police say that includes getting closer to communities, while also improving responses to mental‑health crises and homelessness.
“They have to have more contact with these young individuals on the streets. Once you’re going on social media to arrest them. There are a step ahead that means they’re already there. We have to prevent it by having a presence, talking to these individuals,” said Pelotti.
