Villanueva shooting proves more female cops needed: activist

A community activist closely involved with public security in Montreal North in the wake of a deadly police shooting there last year says there should be more women in uniform because they react differently in crisis situations.

Will Prosper, founder of community group Montral-Nord Republik, has attendedthe coroner's inquest in Montreal probing the August 2008 police shooting death of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva.

The inquest heard this week from Stphanie Pilotte, one of the two officers involved in the shooting and the fracas that preceded it, events that sparked a riot in the northern borough.

On Thursday, Pilotte told the courtroom it never occurred to her to pull her pepper spray or her firearm during the altercation with Villanueva, his brother and friends because, she said, that kind of force is to be used only when an officer is in grave danger, and she did not feel afraid that night.

On the night of the shooting, Pilotte and her partner approachedthe group of teens after noticing they were playing dice in a public place, in violation of municipal law.Villanueva was shot during an altercation that broke out as the officers tried to arresthis brother.

Prosper told CBC News he was impressed by the cool testimony delivered on the stand by the 18-month rookie cop.

"If you use your head, that makes a difference," Prosper said during a break in the inquiry Thursday. "I remember lots of people were blaming her [because] she's a female officer, she doesn't have the muscle, the width, she can't interact with some people, she doesn't have the size to be an officer."

But Pilotte didn't draw her gun, points out Prosper, who is a former RCMP officer himself. Her partner that night, Jean-Loup Lapointe, fired the shots that killed Villanueva.

"If it was her intervening, Fredy Villanueva would have been alive today,"Prosper said.

"We always blame the women for not being strong enough, not being physical enough [to be police officers]. But if you use your head, that makes a difference, and that's why we need more women in the police force."

Pilotte is expected to wrap her testimony on Friday, then Lapointe will take the stand.