Canada: City Without Cops - Time Magazine, Friday, Oct. 17, 1969 Residents of Montreal discovered last week what it's like to live in a city without police. The lesson was costly: 6 banks were robbed, more than 100 shops were looted, and there were 12 fires. Property damage came close to $3,000,000; at least 40 carloads of glass will be needed to replace shattered storefronts. Two men were shot dead. At that, Montreal was probably lucky to escape as lightly as it did. The immediate cause of the outburst was a strike for more pay staged by the city's cops and firemen... The city's police were particularly angry because their Toronto counterparts receive more pay for less dangerous work. When the city offered the police an increase that still left them $800 short of Toronto's basic $9,200-a-year scale, the cops went on strike. the Orange shop One morning last week, the 8 a.m. police shift went off to the local hockey arena to argue strike tactics instead of reporting to their beats. Suddenly the city was left unguarded. By 11:20 a.m., the first bank robbery had occurred. By noon shops began to close, and banks shut their doors to all except old customers. Early in the evening, a group of taxi drivers added to the confusion. Protesting the fact that they are prohibited from serving Montreal's airport, they led a crowd of several hundred to storm the garage of the Murray Hill Limousine Service Ltd., which has the lucrative franchise. Buses were overturned and set ablaze. From nearby rooftops, snipers' shots rang out. A handful of frightened state police, called in to help maintain order, stood by helplessly. One was shot in the back by a sniper and died. The crowd of looters moved through downtown Montreal, burning and destroying. Rioters stormed into the swanky Queen Elizabeth Hotel, then moved on to the nearby Windsor Hotel and nearly wrecked the mayor's newly opened restaurant. Expensive shops along St. Catherine's Street were hit by looters. On the city's outskirts, burglars went to work; one was shot dead by a doctor in his suburban home. Only when the looting began did other, less committed looters join in. Ordinary citizens amused themselves chiefly by running red lights-but nothing more. After the worst of the looting, the Quebec state government called out 600 infantrymen and 300 Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It also rammed through an emergency law ordering police and firemen back to duty by midnight under threat of heavy penalties, including fines of up to $100 a day per striker. Soon after midnight, the cops began reappearing, made more than 60 arrests.

Canada: City Without Cops - Time Magazine, Friday, Oct. 17, 1969 Residents of Montreal discovered last week what it's like to live in a city without police. The lesson was costly: 6 banks were robbed, more than 100 shops were looted, and there were 12 fires. Property damage came close to $3,000,000; at least 40 carloads of glass will be needed to replace shattered storefronts. Two men were shot dead. At that, Montreal was probably lucky to escape as lightly as it did. The immediate cause of the outburst was a strike for more pay staged by the city's cops and firemen... The city's police were particularly angry because their Toronto counterparts receive more pay for less dangerous work. When the city offered the police an increase that still left them $800 short of Toronto's basic $9,200-a-year scale, the cops went on strike. the Orange shop One morning last week, the 8 a.m. police shift went off to the local hockey arena to argue strike tactics instead of reporting to their beats. Suddenly the city was left unguarded. By 11:20 a.m., the first bank robbery had occurred. By noon shops began to close, and banks shut their doors to all except old customers. Early in the evening, a group of taxi drivers added to the confusion. Protesting the fact that they are prohibited from serving Montreal's airport, they led a crowd of several hundred to storm the garage of the Murray Hill Limousine Service Ltd., which has the lucrative franchise. Buses were overturned and set ablaze. From nearby rooftops, snipers' shots rang out. A handful of frightened state police, called in to help maintain order, stood by helplessly. One was shot in the back by a sniper and died. The crowd of looters moved through downtown Montreal, burning and destroying. Rioters stormed into the swanky Queen Elizabeth Hotel, then moved on to the nearby Windsor Hotel and nearly wrecked the mayor's newly opened restaurant. Expensive shops along St. Catherine's Street were hit by looters. On the city's outskirts, burglars went to work; one was shot dead by a doctor in his suburban home. Only when the looting began did other, less committed looters join in. Ordinary citizens amused themselves chiefly by running red lights-but nothing more. After the worst of the looting, the Quebec state government called out 600 infantrymen and 300 Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It also rammed through an emergency law ordering police and firemen back to duty by midnight under threat of heavy penalties, including fines of up to $100 a day per striker. Soon after midnight, the cops began reappearing, made more than 60 arrests.