Groups of cowards as large as 20 have been brutally attacking people innocently walking in the neighbourhood around The Coast office—north and east of the Halifax Common.
The attacks began Friday evening, at 9:20pm, when a couple were attacked by six to eight young males on Maitland Street. Two hours later, a lone man was attacked by what seems to be the same group. In both attacks, the victims required hospital treatment. At 8:43pm Saturday night, another couple was attacked in the same area, again by seemingly the same group of males; the couple escaped without serious injury. Later that night, just after midnight, three men were attacked at the corner of Agricola and Charles Streets; two of the men were repeatedly punched, but all escaped without serious injury.
By Monday, the attacks became even more cowardly, with a group of 15-20 youth—both male and female—attacking a lone man walking at the corner of Gladstone and North Streets at 8:49pm. The man had has cell phone taken, and was cut on the ear and cheek; his head was swollen. Just five minutes later and two blocks away, a couple walking on Davison were attacked by six to eight young people, including two females. The man was cut in the hand by a metal object, and says he will not be able to work for several weeks as a result of the attack.
Police suspect these six attacks are related, as most, if not all of the attackers were black. But Tuesday night at 9:30pm a group of white males attacked and robbed two men at the skateboard park. The men suffered facial injuries from punching.
These “swarmings” come after a lull of about two years in similar attacks. In response to those attacks, the city contracted with Dalhousie criminologist Don Clairmont, who convened the mayor’s Roundtable on Violence, which resulted in a report on violence that made several dozen explicit recommendations. Now, two years later, only a small number of those recommendations have been implemented. We interviewed Clairmont about race, violence, police response and the frustrations and successes of the Roundtable; that interview will be in this space soon.
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2010.
This is an unbelievable story – not because of what has been happening, i.e. these cowardly attacks, but because what has not been happening, i.e. police action. Why weren’t two or three undercover “baits” immediately dispatched with half a dozen officers two blocks away in wait, and caught these punks terrorizing people? Why not? What could be the excuse to allow something like this to go on for days? Could it be because Halifax police are too busy “serving and protecting” people by setting up road blocks to check safety inspections on cars and catching people on the way to work driving a bit over the speed limit? They should be ashamed of themselves to carry their badges.
Why are the police no longer walking the beat in the north end and the square?!!
World class crime puts Halifax on the map.
Valerie Payn & Chamber of Commerce have no comment.
World class crime in Halifax.
Chamber of Commerce has no comment.
I love how long it took before they informed the public about it.
Now I know it’s easy to blame people and say the police aren’t doing their jobs properly, but maybe we should just look at a long term plan and accountability. How many cops were on duty those nights? WHere were they located (yes the police can tell EXACTLY where each vehicle is down to the second)
I agree with some of the other posts. I RARELY see police in my area on a “beat” walking or driving (I live 2 blocks west of the Coast office). The only time I see police in my area is about every 2 months when they set up a trap on Cunard Street at the end of Moran and check for seat belts, registration etc… The thing which I have noticed very often; and is concerning to me is the concentration and the number of police officers driving up and down spring garden road. I frequent Rogues Roost often for a bite and beer, and from the great vantage point there, have literally counted the number of police vehicles I have seen drive by in a 1 1/2 hr span and I’ve seen up to 10… Seems like the cops also consider it “skin garden road”? How about looking for crime across the city rather than cruizing up and down spring garden?
This is why more surveilance cameras in the city would be useful.
if the cops dont stop this soon one of these stupid kids will wind up dead. If someone attacks me i will not hesitate to use lethal force to extricate myself from harm. the people of halifax need to use situational awareness and also need to arm themselves with simple legal defensive tools including self defense skills. The sad thing is one needs to second guess force due to the legal system we deal with , defend yourself “too much” your life will be ruined and the attacker will be playing Xbox . Criminals are not stupid just because their criminals, they understand their rights and that allows them the nerve to interupt our rights as law fearing members of society. We need to help each other , watch out for each other and ourselves and hopefully this situation does not lead to fatality.
This is not entirely the fault of the police. This is a fault of the greater system as a whole. The real issue here is that there is absolutely nothing better for these kids to do. We need to “attack” the underlying root of these issues and that is the fact that these children need to be occupied by other means. I do admit that the police could have a stronger presence in the area due to the recent increase in swarmings, but as a long term solution we should really look into implementing more community planned activities for youth. I know what I’m suggesting is a tall order, but it is what needs to happen before we allow this situation to escallate. Short term, more police. Long term, mend our communities before we lose them.
I lived in Mississauga, Montreal and Toronto for may years and never felt as unprotected as I do in Halifax and Dartmouth. I was at the speed skating at the Oval in the commons on Monday and did not realize that I was taking such a risk, even during daylight hours. Surely there must be some way that we can let the police chief know that this is not the norm for a Canadian city.
Posted by Finology