Freshly graduated from the National Police School of Quebec in Nicolet, the 33-year-old Vietnamese made his debut in district 22, located in Verdun.
Being the first Asian in the police community, predominantly white and resistant to change, was difficult. The new recruit from visible minorities faced several prejudices among his colleagues.
I would say the first five years were the hardest.
says Jean Trinh, his son.
: is he one of us or not?”,”text”:”When you see someone who is very different, who has a different accent and who does not have the same thing in his lunch box, we often wonder: is he one of us or not?””>When we see someone who is very different, who has a different accent and who doesn’t have the same thing in his lunch box, we often wonder: is he one of us or not? ?
adds Jean Trinh, about his father.
Having survived the great crossing of the boat people on the South China Sea, Quoc Tuan Trinh had the determination to persevere 28 years in a career as a police officer, according to his children.
And this determination, he managed to transmit it.
In 2012, I almost dropped out of my PhD because of a personality clash with someone at university. I remember him talking to me looking me straight in the eye
says with emotion his daughter Linda.
: “Do you think that I have never experienced injustice? Do you think that no one has ever put a spoke in my wheels to prevent me from finishing what I wanted to do? let go because someone doesn’t want you to succeed”.”,”text”:”He said to me: “Do you think that I have never experienced injustice? never got in the way of me getting in the way of finishing what I wanted to do? You’re not going to give up because someone doesn’t want you to succeed”.””>He said to me: “Do you think that I have never experienced injustice? Do you think that no one has ever put a spoke in my wheels to prevent me from finishing what I wanted to do? You’re not going to give up because someone doesn’t want you to succeed.”
Fortunately for Quoc Tuan Trinh, the police officers who knew him ended up accepting him among them. Quickly, they affectionately nicknamed him Ti-Toine Tremblay
tell his children with a smile.
Getting closer to cultural communities
Of a discreet nature, Quoc Tuan Trinh marked the history of the police in Quebec, but without ever having sought the attention of the newspapers.
Already at the time, the director Roland Bourget had affirmed that 80% of the work of the police consisted in establishing a human relationship with the population.
Hiring an Asian person was a gesture for the Montreal police to get closer to cultural communities.
During his career, my husband was asked to talk to young people in schools and CEGEPs. My husband loved this role of building relationships with young people from cultural communities. It valued him
says his wife Le Thi Thanh Loan.
It must be said that the police de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal">SPCUM had been severely blamed, a year before the hiring of Quoc Tuan Trinh, in the case of the death of Anthony Griffin, a young black man shot dead by the police with a bullet in the head.
At the time of the tragedy, in November 1987, the Montreal media had highlighted the fact that the Montreal police had only 3 black police officers among the 4,200 at the time.
The police de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal">SPCUM had been forced to recruit people from visible minorities to rebuild bridges with the cultural communities of the metropolis.
More than 30 years later, the ratio of police officers from visible minorities is struggling to climb. In 2021, the police de la Ville de Montréal">SPVM reported in its activity report (New window) that only 8.7% of its 4,523 agents were from such communities.
By sharing Quoc Tuan Trinh’s story, his family wants future generations of police officers to learn from his determination to take their own careers as far as possible.
It is clear to me that he is our hero. He knew how to do ordinary things, but in an extraordinary way
underlined his son, Jean Trinh.
Quoc Tuan Trinh died of cancer on January 26.
His former employer wished to salute his dedication
to the citizens of Montreal and police de la Ville de Montréal">SPVM“,”text”:”to highlight the importance of people from different minorities who, like Mr. Trinh, paved the way by being among the first members of visible minorities to join the SPVM”}}”>to highlight the importance of people from different minorities who, like Mr. Trinh, paved the way by being among the first members of visible minorities to be part of the SPVM.
