[Image-1]
It was a police emergency like few others. A man, possibly armed with a sword, had broken into a house and was fleeing the scene in a canoe on the Northwest Arm. Two police cars arrive at the Armdale Yacht Club, the officers inside looking to hitch a ride on a boat so they can bring the canoe caper to an end.
Before boarding the cops open the trunks of their patrol cars and take out their C8A2 semi-automatic carbines—a soldier’s weapon—and sling the rifles around their chests. Mark MacNeil was heading for his sailboat that October morning in 2014, when he saw the boat carrying the heavily armed officers.
“It was surreal,” said MacNeil at the time. “I have never seen police carry that kind of weapon before. I wondered what the hell was going on that those kind of guns were needed.”
The man in the canoe was Caleb John Lohr. In the weeks to come the media would report that the 21-year-old had a history of psychosis.
But sitting in that canoe weeks earlier, Lohr couldn’t have known that Halifax police were deploying a powerful, deadly new military-type weapon against him. The C8A2 delivers a bullet at more than twice the speed of sound—its high-velocity impact shearing bones and destroying surrounding tissue as a lethal shock wave travels through the body. A sword is no match for the C8A2. It’s a long-distance killer. Trained officers can pick off a pumpkin at 300 metres.
The incident on the Arm ended with an arrest and no shots fired. Lohr’s body would be found near Cape Split a month after the October 29 incident, the man having apparently slipped during a hike.
Roll forward to Remembrance Day 2015 at Halifax’s Grand Parade. Thousands of people witness police officers in tactical uniforms carrying the C8A2 carbines as they stroll through the respectful crowds gathered to honour Canada’s fallen soldiers. It’s a very public display of the new heavy weapons uniformed police officers are carrying in the trunks of their cars.
Putting these guns into the hands of the police comes at an odd time. Crime in the municipality has been decreasing steadily over the past decade, and crime across Canada is at its lowest level since 1969. From 2011 to 2014 there were only three instances where Halifax Regional Police fired a gun at a person in the line of duty. Most of the time, triggers were pulled to euthanize injured deer hit by trucks.
None of this has stopped HRP from joining the North American police arms race to acquire weapons usually found in a war zone.
Over the past 36 months, the department has tripled the number of heavy arms in its arsenal. Police say that equipment is necessary to prevent gun violence; to thwart potential terrorism; to stop another Moncton. Tactically it’s intimidation over de-escalation. It’s also an example of the gradual militarization of police across the continent that’s happened in places like Ferguson, Missouri and is happening now in Halifax.
The C8A2 semi-automatic (one bullet fired with every trigger pull) is not the first military style weapon used by Halifax police. A 2012 document, Firearms Transition Proposal, reveals that police have owned 15 FN Herstal P-90 carbines dedicated to “patrol operations” since 2004. Nine of those weapons were deployed in squad cars and the rest used for training. Other semi-automatic weapons were issued to the Emergency Response Team.
But there were problems with the Belgian-built P-90—misfires, hard-to-get parts and trouble acquiring ammunition. In 2010 and 2011, “safety concerns” forced the department to cancel training courses on the weapons.
The FTP recommends the C8A2 to replace the aging P-90. The C8 is manufactured in Canada by Colt, and in wide use with police departments across the country. In the Maritimes it’s also used by Saint John and Fredericton police, and the New Brunswick Power Nuclear Response Team. The gun’s 5.56mm NATO bullet is ideal for “containment and high risk situations that require a superior firearm for accuracy,” says the FTP report.
Over 120 pages of internal police documents obtained by The Coast under Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information legislation paint a clear picture of why police want such deadly weapons, and under what circumstances they can be used. It’s all about projecting deadly force from a distance. The new weapon gives the police a much greater range, allowing an officer to take out a person 300 meters away—more than twice the distance of a Canadian football field—even if the human target is wearing body armour.
The Emergency Response Team had already selected the C8 as its weapon of choice in 2011, and so arming regular patrol officers with the same gun helped reduce training costs and allows all of Halifax’s police force to rely on the “pistol and the Colt C8 as the main deployment of firearms.” Battle-tested by the Canadian Army in Afghanistan, Kurdistan and Bosnia, the weapon’s strong link to the military was also a key selling feature.
In all, the Halifax Regional Police force now has 49 C8A2 carbines—three times the number of semi-automatic weapons shouldered by police four years ago. A total of 120 HRP officers have been trained on the weapon, meaning 50 percent of the officers on every watch are able to wield the carbine. There are also seven ERT officers assigned to a watch who have their own personal assigned C8s.
Between 2011 and 2015 the police department paid just over $101,000 for the guns. At $409 per thousand rounds, yearly ammunition costs are estimated at $17,000, though internal documents do suggest the price of bullets will “decline as events in the Middle East settle.”
———
Moncton. Moncton changed everything. June 4, 2014 five RCMP officers are shot by Justin Bourque. Three officers die, two are severely injured.
The Mounties were simply outgunned by Bourque, who was armed with a modified Chinese M14 rifle and pump-action shotgun. If Canadian police took away one thing from the tragedy it’s this: “You don’t bring a handgun to a long-gun fight,” says Halifax Regional Police deputy chief Bill Moore.
Long guns, like the C8A2, gives police a tactical edge. It’s an edge that has driven weapons development and deployment for 2,000 years—time and distance. The greater the distance from the threat, the more time an officer has to react.
“The 5.56 round has far greater effective range (300 metres) than the 9mm cartridge (50 metres),” states the Firearms Transition Proposal, “which is very beneficial for containment and ERT operations.”
An RCMP internal review of the events in Moncton recommended the Mounties “take immediate and significant action to expedite deployment of patrol carbines” like the C8s. But Halifax police were already looking to bolster their arsenal of semi-automatic weapons well before June of 2014.
“Moncton has become the excuse for police buying these weapons across the country,” says Ottawa-based defence lawyer Michael Spratt. “They use it as a reason to justify what they planned to do anyway.”
Spratt, who graduated from Dalhousie University in 2005, is one of the people actively opposing the militarization of Canadian police as those departments purchase more and more heavy weapons. This “arming-up” is a national trend—semi-automatic carbines, armored cars, balaclavas, riot gear—all of which is changing the public face of the police.
“When police display this type of hard equipment it puts a wall between them and the people,” says Spratt. “People are afraid of it and they become afraid of the police.”
Deputy chief Moore, however, fully supports the decision to purchase and deploy the C8A2s. It’s a reliable weapon with an effective range six times greater than the standard issue police pistol. That gun can be a game- changer when deadly force is needed.
“There are going to be times when we need the C8,” says Moore. “I wish it didn’t have to happen but it will.”
The first eye-witness glimpse of the C8 for many Haligonians was at the Remembrance Day ceremony last November. Several officers had the carbine slung on their chests as they walked through the Grand Parade. Spratt says the debut of the weapons on such a solemn occasion shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“When they spend all this money on this gear, they are going to use it.”
There are strict HRP regulations on when the C8s can be deployed, but did that Remembrance Day version of open carry really fall within the rules? Perhaps, perhaps not, says Moore. The decision to have officers openly display their weapons was made by the tactical officer in charge that day. That officer felt that if something did happen that required the weapons, police would be forced to leave the area and get the carbines out of storage in nearby vehicles—a waste of valuable time in a crisis situation.
But there’s no provision in the department’s own rules to deploy the C8 as a preventative weapon when there is no specific threat. In fact, the department’s C8A2 training manual makes it clear that use of the semi-automatic carbine “should not be considered routine.”
Moore acknowledges the carbines should only be brought out when there is “credible threat” to the public or officers. While he says there is always a “broad” standing threat to police and military people, he admits that on November 11 there had been “no specific credible threat” received by police. And yet the decision was still made to carry the loaded weapons in a large crowd of people.
Speaking to the Board of Police Commissioners later in December, chief Jean Michel-Blais said the intention of displaying the C8s during the Remembrance Day ceremony was not to intimidate the general public, but to intimidate those wishing to cause harm to the public. If the public did feel intimidated that was just collateral damage.
“I am not going to second-guess that decision,” says Moore. “I understand both sides. People don’t want to see the C8, but it was a tactical decision.”
———
The HRP C8A2 Carbine Operator Manual is 93 pages long and details—with some redactions in the copy reviewed by The Coast—the circumstances under which a police officer can open the trunk of their squad car and remove the semi-automatic weapon.
Only those who have been qualified by the Training Section are authorized to carry the carbine and the qualified officer must be re-certified bi-annually. The manual’s “lethal force” guidelines were also redacted in the copy reviewed by The Coast, but the book’s very specific on “the role of the patrol carbine.” The semi-automatic rifle can be put to use when dealing with barricaded persons, hostage incidents, IARDs (“immediate action rapid deployment”) and armed suspect incidents where there is an immediate need to establish a perimeter before the arrival of ERT.
Every time an officer “utilizes” the carbine, a Subject Behavior Officer Response form must be filled out. But there are no easily available statistics on how often officers have removed the carbine from their patrol cars. An SBOR wouldn’t be required if the officer accessed the C8 from the trunk of the vehicle and had it at the ready but didn’t fire it, says a statement from HRP. Halifax police have only fired the C8A2 once in an operation, during a March 2013 weapons call. No one was hit or injured during that “ballistic force” event.
“Proper considerations must be exerted when choosing to deploy the patrol carbine in a public environment,” reads a simple, stark direction to police in the manual. “But in a nutshell, here is the basic guideline. The patrol carbine should be deployed anytime [there is] considerable risk of great bodily harm or death.”
Here “anytime” is defined as containment situations, active shooters, a commercial robbery in progress, high-risk traffic stops, serving warrants when the person could be armed and dealing with vicious animals.
But the police aren’t the only ones armed. Though crime is down overall, the last few weeks have seen a rash of guns in the news. This past Tuesday RCMP arrested two youths after finding a bag containing several firearms near Millwood High School. That was the same day as the funeral for 20-year-old Joseph Douglas Cameron, who was shot and killed on a Woodlawn sidewalk on March 29.
Someone working independently of police to stop gun crime in HRM is Mel Lucas, project manager for Ceasefire. The intervention organization tries to prevent youth from engaging in violence through de-escalation, not intimidation. Lucas wasn’t aware of the new police weapons, but is familiar with their reputation in other cities.
“I look at them as a tool. There may well be incidents where the police need them,” he says. But HRP should control the use of the carbines carefully, Lucas adds. If the weapons start being used in everyday policing situations—call that mission creep—then that could send the wrong message to heavily-policed communities.
“It could put people on the defensive. Some individuals might feel threatened or scared.”
Michael Spratt is more blunt. The militarization of police weapons and tactics will likely keep ratcheting up in Canada, he says, until it’s a white face in the crosshairs.
“When a white kid in a wealthy neighbourhood is shot dead by police using one of these weapons, things will change,” he says. “It’s sad to say, but at that point people will say ‘Enough, enough of this.’”
———
Two days after Remembrance Day last year, 130 people were killed in a coordinated series of terrorist attacks in Paris. It’s hard to argue that police shouldn’t arrive at the scene of events such as that—or more recently the airport bombings in Brussels—without semi-automatic carbines at the ready. Spratt doesn’t disagree, but says the weapons, as we have seen in Halifax, start to creep into daily use. That keeps the police separated from the citizens at a time when a free flow of information between the two may never have been more important.
Police budgets across Canada have soared in recent years while crime plummets. Yet rare, spectacular events like Brussels or Paris or even Halifax’s Valentine’s Day 2015 mall murder plot are used to justify the acquisition of heavy weapons by police.
The HRP made the decision to buy the C8 all on its own. Because the carbine was a replacement for the old P-90, the department wasn’t required to get permission from the police commission or city council; it was simply an internal decision with no public or political input. And that unilateral decision by the Halifax police to dramatically increase its semi-automatic weapons stock is a problem, says Spratt.
“The lack of oversight here is troubling. There is not enough on what police do and how they do it.”
Police brass though are proud of the department’s community policing philosophy. It’s a cornerstone of how they see themselves and how they operate. Bill Moore says the department is painfully aware that events such as the overwhelming force used against citizens in Ferguson and other US cities has galvanized public concern about police militarization.
“We don’t want to be soldiers. This not a war zone,” says Moore.
True enough. But last year at Grand Parade it may have been hard for some people to believe that. Ordering officers to wander through a peaceful crowd carrying carbines and wearing tactical clothing is a mistake, says Spratt. He believes money and effort would be better spent on mental health and community support services, rather than turning cops into soldiers.
“This equipment keeps people away from police because that’s what it is designed to do. It sows mistrust.”
The most chilling section of the cops’ training manual for the C8s is the matter-of-fact, clinical way it deals with effects of the gun’s bullet on the human body.
Travelling at 2,611 feet per second—that’s more than twice the speed of sound—the bullet causes “disruption of the tissue far greater than that experienced with [a] handgun
bullet.”
When it strikes a person, the energy from the bullet is transferred and creates “a shock wave capable of tearing and shredding living tissue.” This creates a “temporary cavity” that’s further “enhanced” as the bullet fragments in the body and lacerates more tissue and organs.
But even then, there’s no guarantee an individual would go down with a single shot, warns the manual: “Police officers must realize the limitations of their firearm and be prepared to fire and strike a subject repeatedly until the threat is stopped.”
And there is lots of opportunity to keep firing; the carbine’s clip holds 25 bullets.
The C8A2 is designed to kill. It’s designed to intimidate. That, after all, is why the police bought them.
———
Rob Gordon has covered defence issues and general news for CBC, newspapers and magazines for more than 30 years. He has been embedded with the navy in the Arabian Sea, with the army in Afghanistan and occasionally works as an associate producer for the CBC’s fifth estate.
———
Update: At 5:01pm on Friday HRP sent out the following media release regarding this article. It was also posted in our comments below, but we’ve pulled it out and put it here for emphasis and reader convenience.
“We strongly agree that police shouldn’t become militarized. That would go against the way in which we strive to connect with and serve our community.
However, we must be prepared to protect our community, including during weapons incidents, whether that’s a person barricaded in a house with a long gun or a group of people plotting a mass shooting. We believe our citizens expect us to be prepared to effectively and efficiently handle these high-risk situations. We also we also have an obligation to our officers under the [Nova Scotia Occupational Health & Safety Act] to ensure they’re adequately equipped and trained to do their jobs.
The article is correct when it says we were planning to purchase the C8s prior to the tragic situation in Moncton. In fact, we’ve had carbines at HRP since the early 2000s. We’ve tripled our armament over the last four years and here’s why:
•We replaced outdated firearms (shotguns and P90’s) from the early 2000s.
•We increased the number of firearms available in our Training Section to prevent us from removing operational firearms from the frontline when conducting training.
•We equipped 14 additional Emergency Response Team (ERT) members with C8s when we enhanced our ERT deployment strategy in 2014.It’s also worth noting that:
•Our deployment model for long guns has remained largely unchanged since their introduction within HRP about a decade and a half ago.
•Outside of ERT, only select officers on each shift are specially trained to access and use the C8s.
•Our approach is in step with other police agencies across the country.
•The C8 is just one tool in our tool kit to be used in certain circumstances and in concert with less lethal tools. It also involves strong oversight.It may be shocking for people to grasp that the incidents we’re seeing around the world (San Bernadino, California; Paris; Brussels) and closer to home (Mayerthorpe, AB; Ottawa; Moncton) could happen here in Halifax. We’ve been very fortunate to date that we have averted several significant incidents where people have had the ability and intent to do serious harm to many citizens in our community—the planned mass shooting at Halifax Shopping Centre in 2015 is one example. It’s a sad, stark, cold reality. Unfortunately, we don’t control the people intent on doing harm to others and we must be prepared for such high-risk situations—our approach is based on need, not want.
Police work by its nature requires police agencies to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. With that in mind, our officers must be adequately trained and equipped for their own protection and that of our community.
Related Stories
Halifax’s crime rate dropped nearly 8 percent last year
Strong civilian oversight needed for Canadian police, says George Elliott Clarke
Some asshole keeps making bomb threats
Funeral director loses license after cremating wrong body
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2016.
They need those weapons. The cops should get anything they want. We the taxpayers must pay for power trips and our newly forming police state. We must prop up the egos of the fools in armor.
Yes, and arguably Willie, the case of the chap in Moncton (sidenote: auto-correct keeps changing Moncton to Moron… hahaha!)…
I think there’s a time and place for these weapons and the tactics one might employ to accompany them.
I also think the HRPD and other police forces tend to over-react and bring bombs to snowball fights.
It’s about balance, which is what they all need to learn.
Oh, I somehow knew the trauma of *gasp* armed police officers at last year’s Remembrance Day services would be invoked once more to trigger and terrify. Let’s just forget for a moment that a year earlier this country saw two soldiers deliberately targeted for murder by deranged fanatics, simply for being members of the Canadian military. Cry “Overreaction” and let slip the dogs of Social Justice.
To the simplistic question, “Do heavily armed police in a public setting make you feel safer?” I would pose the counter question – “Do mobs of anonymous people in Burger King masks parading down the sidewalk make you feel freer?”
In both cases the answer is “Yes, with a but” and “No, with an if”
Do heavily armed police make us safe? Not at all.
Do “mobs” of people in burger King masks make me feel free? Yell, being as though I’m not a pussy, yes. I would much rather live in a country that allows me to be in public with a mask, then a police state. Private business can and usually don’t let in pepole with masks and/or hoods.
If you’re that scared, you should move to the states. A lot of them embrace being scared.
Winston, nobody pays punks in burger King masks. We the rubes, oops I meen people pay the cops, and pay for the weapons that can kill us. You’re not comparing apples and oranges. Looks to me you dropped the orange for an onion. If a cop is too scared to deal with even I tiny amount of danger, he/she can fuckin quit.
Glad you aren’t a “pussy”, willie. As for me, I’ll trust a uniformed police officer before a masked hooligan/thug/activist any day of the week. Precisely because we pay them; they are accountable. So I don’t fear them. Mobs aren’t. They are unaccountable and unpredictable and frequently just as manipulated as the forces of the so-called “statist elite” *Christ I hate using the lingo of the left* For all that the increased so-called “militarization of law enforcement” is allegedly erecting a wall between them and the citizenry, I saw no evidence of it last November. The C-8 armed officer I chatted with at Sullivan’s Pond Cenotaph was neither fearful nor hostile; simply prepared.
The progressive left love to castigate the rest of us for buying into the “politics of fear”. If only they had the sense to see how ridiculous and hypocritical they sound, themselves. They are perfectly content to play that game, the only difference is the target. So it goes.
And as for our police officers – range time is never wasted ,fellas.
Oh, Jesus, listen to Winston go…” left this, left that “. This is not a question of left vs right, this is a question of whether or not police need assault rifles to ” protect and serve “. I am in my mid 40’s and have never been a victim of a crime. I’ve lived in large cities and small towns across this country, and have yet to find myself in a position where a police officer, in riot gear, wielding an assault rifle would have helped or de-escalated the situation. Even if I did find myself a victim of a crime, I highly doubt that I would feel ” safer ” knowing that police officers carry assault rifles, after I reported it. If they want to have a specialized, mobilized team of crisis experts trained and in possession of weapons like these, that should be made available to them, but not for everyday cops doing regular, everyday cop shit.
Just where would an urban police officer fire one of these rifles safely inside the city limits? The article states…
” The new weapon gives the police a much greater range, allowing an officer to take out a person 300 meters away—more than twice the distance of a Canadian football field—even if the human target is wearing body armour. “
Tell me where it is safe to start blasting away with something like this? This is in the interest of “public safety”? This is a weapon of last resort, not to be sitting in the trunk of ” Joe Officer’s ” squad car to be used as a tool for intimidation.
Well, Poprah, considering that most of the anti-police rhetoric does, in fact, come from the left, I think it is a valid point. Oh, I’m fairly certain there are more than a few survivalist, Turner Diary reading, Trump supporting, Z.O.G. fearing mouth breathers out there who don’t think the police should be any better armed than they are, but the vast majority of squalling about intimidation does come from those who could be justly painted in the pus yellow colours of the radical left. This article itself, with it’s military references (oooh, scary) and invocations of Ferguson is rife with lefty fear-mongering. Because that’s what they do. They are the ones who try to paint a picture of a supposed increasing division between law enforcement and the general public, totally forgetting that that very division already exists because it has always been a part of the progressive’s catechism “Cops = Bad.” It’s their own version of a “Culture of Fear”, and I, for one, refuse to buy into it. So yeah, I’d rather police officers have tactical weaponry at their disposal , as well as adequate training and clear rules of exactly when it can be used, even if they rarely need it because the alternative is so much worse. And that does not mean that we are headed for a police state, any more than an influx of immigrants puts us at increased threat of terrorism. You fear that which you hate and do not understand. Or so my lefty friends tell me – incessantly. Oi vay.
Lol…
Winston, Poprah made some excellent points that you didn’t even address in your nonsense response. All you did was rant against “lefties”.
Yes, willie, I suppose she did. But the acquisition of the weapons is a done deal and I seriously doubt that any public servant is going to be boneheaded enough to reverse the decision. And if the carbines remain locked in the trunks of the cruisers and are never fired in anger, still, money well spent. Much the same arguments were made 2 decades ago when most North American Police Forces made the transition from 6 shot revolvers to high magazine capacity semi-automatic pistols, The same chicken-little type whining about “militarization”, “escalation” “intimidation” . The same dire predictions of moving toward a police state. The same bullshit.
At the end of the day I’m still not afraid of cops.
So lovely to see discussions occurring and no one being edited or killed off…
Winston, the white, middle class male isn’t afraid of police, so let them do whatever they want. Clap, clap, clap, well good for you! If only we could all be so lucky. The police force had three times less assault rifles up until very recently, did you feel unsafe? I know I didn’t, and I actually feel less safe knowing that police are quickly becoming more of a military style force than the trusted officers of the law I grew up with. We have no need for police showing up at peaceful events/protests with riot gear, assault rifles, LAV’s, etc… Need I post links to the G20 in toronto or how the HRPD handled the “Occupy” wing nuts on SGR two or three years ago? Police are there to respect and protect my rights, and that is impossible to do through the sight of an assault weapon, period, end of story!
Winston, let me ask you one thing. Where do you draw the line? At some point a weapon is too much for the situation. I would argue now, you don’t. Should the police get rpg’s? How about a few tanks? Okay, I get it, the guns have all ready been purchased. That doesn’t meen they should of been. You watch too much TV, the world is not as scary as the news let’s on. This whole conversation is moot anyway. The guns weren’t purchased because we need them. They were, like a lot of government waste, bought because some lobbyist from a weapons manufacturer took a few politicians out to dinner and promised them a nice consulting job when they get out of the public sector. Money is the reason for almost everything. You’re fooling your self if you think the guns are for anything else.
To paraphrase the Scout motto “Be prepared”. Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.
I wonder if people would be up in arms, pun intended, if they used civilian semi-automatic rifles. I wonder how many people here even know what semi-automatic means. Whether military or civilian rifle, semi-automatic means the same thing. The rifle loads itself after a round (bullet) is fired. One pull of the trigger, one, and only one, round is fired. The main differences between a civilian and military rifles is the military rifle is more rugged and durable, has a pistol grip, and is usually shorter for maneuverability. Both civilian and military rifles operate in the exact same way.
I think when people see the word semi-automatic they assume automatic, which is completely different. With an automatic when the trigger is pulled, rounds will continue to be shot until either the trigger is let go or you run out of ammunition.
Okay, your Eminence. Once the “P” word rears it’s head, I know that we’ve reached the point that we’re only shouting past one another.
Peace – through superior firepower.
We strongly agree that police shouldn’t become militarized. That would go against the way in which we strive to connect with and serve our community.
However, we must be prepared to protect our community, including during weapons incidents, whether that’s a person barricaded in a house with a long gun or a group of people plotting a mass shooting. We believe our citizens expect us to be prepared to effectively and efficiently handle these high-risk situations. We also we also have an obligation to our officers under the Canada Labour Code to ensure they’re adequately equipped and trained to do their jobs.
The article is correct when it says we were planning to purchase the C8s prior to the tragic situation in Moncton. In fact, we’ve had carbines at HRP since the early 2000s. We’ve tripled our armament over the last four years and here’s why:
•We replaced outdated firearms (shotguns and P90’s) from the early 2000s.
•We increased the number of firearms available in our Training Section to prevent us from removing operational firearms from the frontline when conducting training.
•We equipped 14 additional Emergency Response Team (ERT) members with C8s when we enhanced our ERT deployment strategy in 2014.
It’s also worth noting that:
•Our deployment model for long guns has remained largely unchanged since their introduction within HRP about a decade and a half ago.
•Outside of ERT, only select officers on each shift are specially trained to access and use the C8s.
•Our approach is in step with other police agencies across the country.
•The C8 is just one tool in our tool kit to be used in certain circumstances and in concert with less lethal tools. It also involves strong oversight.
It may be shocking for people to grasp that the incidents we’re seeing around the world (San Bernadino, California; Paris; Brussels) and closer to home (Mayerthorpe, AB; Ottawa; Moncton) could happen here in Halifax. We’ve been very fortunate to date that we have averted several significant incidents where people have had the ability and intent to do serious harm to many citizens in our community – the planned mass shooting at Halifax Shopping Centre in 2015 is one example. It’s a sad, stark, cold reality. Unfortunately, we don’t control the people intent on doing harm to others and we must be prepared for such high-risk situations – our approach is based on need, not want.
Police work by its nature requires police agencies to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. With that in mind, our officers must be adequately trained and equipped for their own protection and that of our community.
Regarding our earlier response, we made a minor error. We’re subject to the Nova Scotia Occupational Health & Safety Act, not the Canada Labour Code. Our apologies for any confusion.
I believe these weapons are only given to HRP patrol units to utilize for the worst of the worst. I haven’t seen a cop performing regular duties with one slung over his back or marching up and down SGR or going to noise complaints or performing traffic stops. If it’s in the trunk it’s out of sight… If a person decides to shoot randomly at civilians or the ever so rare terrisot attack (if we ever see one) I rather an officer be able to pick that person off at 300 meters then have them to run up to him in close range with a pistol. Police are damned if the do and damned if they don’t. I don’t believe this city or country will ever fall into a police state. People who believe that or dictate to others that’s where we are going need to look outside the box and see the light. It sounds like they may only have what 20 C8’s for what 600 members… Not over kill. They are just preparing encase they need them. Can’t please everyone.
I believe these weapons are only given to HRP patrol units to utilize for the worst of the worst. I haven’t seen a cop performing regular duties with one slung over his back or marching up and down SGR or going to noise complaints or performing traffic stops with them out. If it’s in the trunk it’s out of sight… If a person decides to shoot randomly at civilians or the ever so rare terrisot attack (if we ever see one) I rather an officer be able to pick that person off at 300 meters then have them to run up to him in close range with a pistol. Police are damned if the do and damned if they don’t. I don’t believe this city or country will ever fall into a police state. People who believe that or dictate to others that’s where we are going need to look outside the box and see the light. It sounds like they may only have what 20 C8’s for about 600 members… Not over kill. They are just preparing encase they need them. Can’t please everyone.
As a police officer I must strenuously disagree with the above statement “The cops should get anything they want”. We are government employees of towns, villages, provinces and the country and as such we should be held accountable, not only for our actions, but our expenditures and once in a while, for our inactions.
Arguably, carrying the patrol carbine through a Remembrance Day service was a wrong call although I wasn’t there. I expect an unmarked van or two with officers armed with those same weapons hidden within could have been conveniently parked nearby if the presence of the weapons was believed necessary. However, arguing that we don’t need them is an uninformed approach.
These weapons are not exactly purchased because they have a high muzzle velocity, although that velocity does contribute to the weapon’s accuracy. These weapons are purchased because they are accurate, reliable and make far more sense to have available than the traditional 12 gauge shotgun with its very limited range and questionable accuracy.
99 times out of one hundred if a “regular” patrol officer makes use of the carbine it will be either due to a report of a suspect otherwise having the police out-gunned or to set up containment and prevent the escape of an armed suspect until the specially trained Emergency Response Team arrives and takes over with trained negotiators and additional weapons including less-than-lethal options that allow an arrest to be made rather than a suspect being killed.
Whether an officer fires their pistol, a shotgun or a carbine, two considerations should always be: what is behind the target and what if I miss? However, in the rare instance of an active shooter, I expect that nobody wants a police officer sitting behind cover and unable to stop the shooter because his pistol is not accurate enough at that range.
I for one want officers equipped for the task should someone walk into one of my daughters’ schools and begin to execute students and teachers. This may never happen where I live but I hope there is at least one carbine available if it does.
In closing, I would like to thank all those who have taken the time to post their opinions in response to this article. Whether the police agree with every opinion is irrelevant. You are the people for whom we work and who we are tasked to protect. We should be paying attention to your concerns and hopefully addressing them in a respectful and helpful way, even if we are unable to satisfy everyone.
Cops are the biggest organized criminals ,ya lets just arm them somemore . some arnt tho they actually dont push laws that lack common sence or morals. Then theres others that are just smart enuff to do there job but too stupid to understand why they do it
Police and bad guys,same ilk different uniform and bosses. Both out to mess with anyone minding their own business.
HRP even steals dope and money from evidence lockers hahahaha pathetic meatheads!
I am no criminal,not from a rough neighborhood and do not sympathize with criminals but boy let me tell you the COPS are not here to serve and protect anyone but themselves. They are bullies!!
Their best customers and biggest criminals are doing business only a block away from their station and they are terrified…..pathetic!
Chasing people for smoking weed is their choice in crime fighting even though there was never any real victims. Police thinks EVERYONE IS GUILTY and they are wrong. Police thinks majority of citizens likes them? Well they are dead wrong,nobody likes police or trusts one. Only police can have police friends because NOBODY i mean NOBODY is telling their “cop buddy” anything that requires any amount of trust.
Cops ruined their credibility with public long long long ago when they first beat up some guy for a marijuana cigarette.
I am just stating the honest facts and truth about police. It does not matter even what colour we all are,cops are bad people who got the job to “get away with murder” or they were bullied in their schoolyards growing up and have a vendetta against the world.
If someone mugs you or breaks into your home,they do NOTHING! They make fun of us “regular citizens”,they bully,they harass and commit all sorts of crime that goes unpunished.PATHETIC SYSTEM NEEDS FRESH START!
I WILL NEVER EVER TRUST A COP OR ANYONE OF THAT ILK PERIOD and that does not make me a criminal. I just observed a lot in my life time.
Cops gave themselves a bad name among ALL CITIZENS whether they be criminals or not.
NOBODY TRUSTS POLICE EXCEPT FOR OTHER POLICE!
A DAMN SHAME!
Want to be VICTIMIZED TWICE? Call the police
How about a third time? Call a Lawyer
Four times a victim…….see The Judge’s decision.
Never ever trust the Cops or The Robbers. Same ilk different uniform and they are all out to ruin your day for the sake of their enjoyment. Serve and protect each other. not us!
Stay safe folks!