Police in Montreal began tackling a new kind of underworld Monday — the city's subway system.

And street gangs will be one of the main targets of the new 132-officer unit assigned to crack down on crime in the vast transit network which stretches more than 60 kilometres.

"It's going to be easier to make the co-ordination between the intelligence, the people on the ground and the people from the investigation side," said Jean-Guy Gagnon, head of operations for the Montreal police department.

"I think we're going to have more success in our fight against street gangs."

Many of Montreal's 300 to 500 street gang members congregate in a number of the city's 65 subway stations, making some commuters jittery with their hulking presences and menacing glares.

A public outcry about perceived dangers in the subway system prompted the city to look at putting transit security under the Montreal police, which has been looking at integration for the last few years.

City officials insist the transit system is safe. The new police presence is there, they say, to make it safer.

The old subway security officers — 67 of whom will become Montreal police officers — did not have powers of arrest or carry guns. They would have to call police to intervene.

In 2005, there were 700 crimes, such as assault, against people in the transit system. There were about 1,500 property crimes, including graffiti.

"It's not a large number when you consider that more than 1.3 million [people] are using the transportation every day," Gagnon said.

In other cities such as Toronto, special constables patrol the system. They are generally unarmed.

Vancouver transit police armed

But in Vancouver, transit police were given the power in 2005 to carry guns and arrest people outside transit stations who may be dealing drugs or committing other crimes and using the trains as to make their get-away.

Claude Dauphin, the member of Montreal's executive committee responsible for public security, said the old transit force's requests for better equipment and greater powers of arrest were rejected by the provincial government.

"Our metro [subway] agents right now were doing a great job but they don't have the tools to do a good job," he said. "They're not allowed to arrest someone unless they see the person doing the act.

"In 2007, in the era of terrorism around the world, it doesn't make sense, so that's why we're doing that."

Terrorism concerns

Gagnon said the police will be better able to co-ordinate security on the terrorism front and respond to any problems.

"It's going to be easier for them to detect if we have some problems in the metro, if somebody has some bad comportment or if something is wrong in the structure of the metro. For us, it's very good news today. It's going to be easier for us to prevent any terrorist attack in the subway."

The main police tactic in the transit system will be high visibility. The average rotation for service will be about two years.

Mayor Gerald Tremblay told a news conference the police presence will reinforce security for passengers.

"We are turning an important page in the history of public transit in Montreal," Tremblay said. "This decision, which has been long awaited, is no doubt going to improve the quality of life for citizens."