Shootings, stabbings, home invasions and organized crime activity is running rampant here in metro and in our outskirt communities; but, what is Halifax doing about it? I met a cruiser with two cops taking turns playing with a radar gun on my way in to Halifax during the morning rush hour. I must say, that’s just brilliant. We’re almost bumper to bumper and HRM police are out wasting their time trying to generate revenue for the city in slow moving traffic. I drove by another police officer on the beat who was standing there with his thumbs hooked in his belt laughing and carrying on with a bystander. I am all for public relations, but I don’t think the events of the last six months leaves room for us to have such a relaxed policing stance. Nor do I think we need police walking the beat in the business district. There’s drugs being sold on street corners in other areas of Halifax and Dartmouth, but it’s safer to walk the beat downtown. Furthermore, we’re wasting our human resources. We buy vehicles (4X4 trucks), equip them with fancy laptops and have special constables hired to police parking meters! How many vehicles and people have we employed in proven problematic communities?
I lived in Forest Hills for a year before returning to Sackville, where I grew up. I quickly learned Forest Hills is notorious for young punks vandalizing and stealing whatever is in their reach; including your car or its contents. They tore apart my garbage one evening and threw parts of it over the roof of my house and that which didn’t make it over the roof came rolling back down and clattering to the deck. They spray painted “PUSSY” on my curb and other such terms throughout the neighborhood. One night, I caught them checking my car door handle; to which I responded with a promise to rip their arms off and beat them with it if I ever caught them again. Within a week, I had a window smashed out of my car and a neighbor had his mirror ripped off. I called the Cole Harbor RCMP to make them aware of what was taking place in the community and to request some level of police presence while on patrol to help thwart this behavior. Instead, a buck-toothed, snotty, little constable showed up, offended that I had even wasted his time and said, “What do you want me to do about it? Fingerprint your window? It’s broken.”
A few years ago, I bought a TV as a Christmas present and left it in my car all wrapped nicely while I ducked into the Halifax Shopping center to get a bouquet of flowers. A car load of thugs ensured it never made it under the intended tree. When I called the police with the description of the guys and their car, he laughed in my ear asking me if I realized how difficult it would be to distinguish people or a car of that detail. Police know as well as I do that those types of criminals have a tendency to “work” malls and parking lots and therefore, return to the scene repeatedly. But doing anything about it would require effort and wouldn’t generate revenue for the city. I have several other accounts that whiten my knuckles and make me grit my teeth, but I will bore you with only the most recent.
This morning, I had an appointment near the waterfront in Halifax and parked near the Westin. I was quite surprised that the meter stopped accepting money after 90 minutes. It’s bad enough that parking is at such a premium in the city, but it’s hampered that much more with time limits on parking meters. What purpose does that serve? I’ll tell you what it does; it generates another means of revenue for the city. If you can’t coordinate transiting from your vehicle, the completion of your business and back to your vehicle all within 90 minutes, you will be slapped with a $25.00 ticket. Ah, but the city offers a nice gesture in reducing the fine to only $20.00 if paid within 7 days. Thanks, Halifax. And thank-you 4×4 driving meter maids. I bet you look at yourself with pride when you stand before the mirror at the end of the day and remove your special constable badge. I bet your parents and family are so proud. Allow me to unveil reality for you: YOU ARE THE MOST USELESS FORM OF LAW ENFORCEMENT EXISTING TODAY! I was one minute late on the meter. My $40.00 appointment just turned into a $60.00 appointment; plus the $2.50 I plugged into the meter ($.25 of which was not read by the meter because of the 90 minute rule).
I defend my country and others for a living. I was a part of feeding a starving country on one operation and I’m going into another. I have done more for people in three weeks than what some police and special constables have done for us in a lifetime. My comrades and our vets have given their lives, their limbs and sometimes their sanity defending our country and the evil that threatens it. Why can’t you defend and protect us in our home communities; rather than finding ways and means of sucking more money from our pockets!?! If you’re a meter maid – Get a real job! If you’re a police officer – Get real about your job!
—Real Mad
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2009.
ah but if you put police resources in problematic communities the nasty word racism rears it’s head
Your name gives you away
mad
–adjective
1. mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
No doubt about it, you are real mad.
You know nothing about law enforcement. In the future, on topics which you are ignorant of, it’s best to stay silent.
Dear The Cost – Run this.
Man, people really hate parking tickets.
Wow – I’d avoid your headspace at all costs.
Another fucking nut job with too much anger and all the answers.
Gotta love how a ticket for parking violations is somehow never the fault of the driver/car-owner.
Now that’s a bitch! Though I like the beat coppers. I’d rather see cops talking to the citizens then seeing them sit in a church parking lot chatting to their buddies, sipping drinks and eating donuts, which I still see every day. But you’re right they should be in the known crime areas, working.
What most people forget when they rail on about the cops are two things.
1 – The police are not one big group. They are divided into different divisions like quick response, major crimes, robberies and Vice. So stop pretending like that cop walking the beat on SPG even HAS the option to roll back to the station and ask to start working on an unsolved murder if he wanted to. Thats not how it works.
2 – The police have to eat, in case no has noticed we don’t have a lot of 130 pound wafer thin cops. They are large men that have to eat often to stay fueled – so stop giving them shit every time they stop for a coffee or go through a drive through. The shifts can be 12 hours and going to FID for some food is not really on the menu. Its a drive through window or something quick and YES this sometimes means Tim Hortons or McDonald. When was the last time any of you worked 12 hours without a coffee or food?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106856/
Look at the number of sworn officers in HRP, and then look at HRP’s website and see how much stuff we ask those sworn officers to do. With a bit over 6 hundred sworn officers, I’d hazard a guess that Patrol itself has 5 hundred tops…on paper. Given training, vacations, non-beat patrol assignments and so forth, each of the 4 watches might have not much more than a hundred sworn officers, and these have to cover all three areas – West, Central and East.
Bear in mind too that HRP does bylaw enforcement. If they don’t respond to your noise complaint I guess you’d be bitching about that too.
The staffing numbers tell me that it’s no surprise that there isn’t usually a patrol car cruising each and every street that might have a vandalism problem, 24/7. I suggest that this kind of problem is better handled by an effective neighbourhood watch and perhaps a citizen’s patrol.
As for busting the lowest tier of drug pushers on street corners – how effective is that? Ship ’em off to jail for a while, house ’em at taxpayer expense, in the meantime the distributor finds some new dealers. The HRP and RCMP…give them some credit – know that you hurt the illegal goods trade (drugs, Indian smokes etc) by going after higher-level distributors, not the small fry.
You say you’re in the military. Well, way back when so was I, in combat arms. So I say, please don’t play that military vs police game. So some cops are useless – you think that some of your buddies aren’t? You think the police suck so bad? Imagine the situation if we didn’t have any at all…seeing as how you’ve been to at least one craphole country, maybe you’ve seen how things are in that situation. You still seriously believe that our police are not doing anything?
1. I bet the families of parking enforcement officers ARE proud of them. They’re decent folks making an honest living and providing for their families. There’s no shame in that.
2. Have you not seen the 2,000 or so news stories/Crime Stoppers PSAs at Christmas time saying NEVER leave gifts or bags in plain sight in your car??? Seriously? Theives patrol the parking lots during the holidays – you said it yourself. Don’t make yourself a target.
3. I assume by “business district” you are referring to Spring Garden or Barrington. Perhaps you didn’t hear, but there was a shooting at 3:00 in the afternoon a couple weeks ago on Spring Garden. Looks like we need a police presence there after all…
Wow!! Strangely I have had to deal with the HRM police on two occassions (acually RCMP once, HRM the other). I Can honestly say that my complaints were treated with respect and seriousness. They followed up with me and did everything they could to apprehend the people. In one case they even returned to me my stolen Christmas gift on Christmas Eve because they wanted me to have it for Christmas. My point is that I am believe about 1/10th of what the OP is saying. Are there good cops and bad cops? Duhhhh… they are people. But I really think they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with. As for them using radar to try and catch people that is their JOB! Have you SEEN some of the nutjobs and how fast they drive in this city?! Something tells me that if the OP was run off the road by one of these speeding morons that they would be the first one to call the cops and complain that they were not doing their jobs slowing people down.
Well Mr Military OB, even the Military Police have different sections (patrol, investigations, security, field, etc) just like the civilian police. Why? To be organized so people aren’t stepping all over themselves. Police cannot be everywhere and as in most places there are never enough, so they must prioritize within their sections.
If you got a ticket too bad. If the meter is not working properly, then you have the right to go to court, plead not guilty, and present your case.
Man I hate it when someone tries to use their military service as a ticket to get away with things or not follow the rules.
imo, the OB is right, HRP do a fantastic job of issuing tickets for *minor* parking infractions. AND bikers & skate boarders beware – HELMET LAWS WILL BE ENFORCED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW! ARRRGH!!! our tax dollars at work.
HRP do a great job of wasting their time and tax payer money, ‘tackling’ minor offences, like parking violations, bikers without helmets, etc, but as for investigating & solving *actual crime* – serious offences – not so much. as my grandma used to say, they are about as useful as tits on a nun… and i say this from personal experience, having dealt with them on a number of occassions, reporting incidents that i’ve witnessed. quite often, the cops are very SLOW to respond (by 20 minutes or MORE), allowing the perpetrators plenty of leisure time to escape. then if/when the cops finally do show up, they call you back and repeat the same questions that i reported to the dispatcher an hour ago. i’ve become so disgusted with HRP, i don’t even bother reporting ANY crime i witness now. it’s simply a waste of my time.
for example, a few evenings ago, i witnessed some goons drag racing down north park street. one of the drivers didn’t notice the median at the corner of Cogswell/Ahern (a one-way street), and the next thing i saw was his car momentarily take flight, as he crashed into the curb at full speed, causing both front tires to blow out and detach from the rims, the front fender and some other components were also torn off, and the airbag deployed. the driver ended up with a bleeding nose and some minor scrapes. he and his buddies pulled the wreck over to the side of the road, removed the license plates and left the scene. and even though there were other witnesses in the area, not ONE cop car showed up. why? well, i assume b/c the cops had ‘better’ things to do, and/or nobody could be bothered to phone it in anyway. like i say, i don’t bother phoning anything in anymore, because the cops always show up too late, and then probably won’t take it seriously. had a breathalyzer been administered in that incident, i have no doubt it would have revealed the drivers had been drinking beforehand.
and as for ‘Wiggum’ Beazley, he should not be Chief of Police. from what i’ve seen and heard from him over the years, my impression is that he is incompetent at his job. i’m certainly not the only person to hold this opinion of him either.
imo, the Coast should print the OB’s bitch, because s/he has made some valid points/observations about the HRP.
Hey techcafe, I give you the same advice I gave the OP
In the future, on topics which you are ignorant of, it’s best to stay silent.
@yorkke – GFY, fool
Yes, let only the police comment on the police. If there letting the city slip into a slum just stay quite, that’s the best action a citizen should take. Fool indeed.
techcafe- ok then here’s a deal for you. If the cops are so incompetant then the next time you need them, don’t bother calling them! I mean they are probably off at Tim’s having a coffee so if your house is broken into and you are getting your brains beat out, don’t bother calling them! Something tells me that you would be the first one whining and calling 911.
And by the way genius, if you witnessed what you saw the other evening, then why did YOU not call the cops? I mean you were so concered about what happened and you were appaled that no cops showed up (apparently there Psychic power was shut off that evening because they did not get the message that there was a problem through mind reading) yet you did not bother calling them.
You my friend are part of the problem and not the solution.
re-READ my post, Bobby33… like i said, i can’t be bothered WASTING MY TIME anymore. and many other people i know have said the exact same thing about the HRP.
it should also be noted, witnessing/reporting a crime in this city can actually lead to getting your “brains beat out,” as you put it.
oh, and please don’t refer to me as your ‘friend’, asshole.
Easy to tell it’s summer vacation, all the junior high kids come out.
ahh sorry techcafe..I just felt you might think it was nice to have one “friend” in the world because I am doubtful you have any. So you go back to complaining about the cops not doing their jobs yet saying that “You cannot be bothered anymore” so you won’t bother calling them. I shall use the same attitude if I am walking down the street and see your useless ass (and with your attitude it probably will) getting the shit beat out of it. “Oh, I was going to call the cops but I just cannot be bothered anymore”.
Bumwad.
So a twenty minute response. Be thankful you’re not in larger cities where that would be a few hours.
The way I see it is there is too many police, & ‘special officers’ that are only out there to do 1 thing…increase revenue, through the money grab syst…I mean parking tickets.
With all the unsolved shootings & violent crime, I can’t remember the last time I looked at the news & didn’t read about a robbery & assaults lately. If we don’t have enough officers in the robbery, major crimes units, & we don’t have the budget to hire more. The answer in my mind is SIMPLE. Transfer officers from the traffic division to the criminal division. You’ll still have all those eager P.O.S. (aka ticket nazi’s)to run around the & protect everyone from those criminal masterminds who are parked a few minutes too long at a meter. With added police officers, perhaps armed robbery, shootings etc. could possibly get solved, or with more officers on the streets for the night shift(s) . Their presence could help deter crime…there’s an idea. Lets try stopping crime before they happen.
But you know you won’t fill up the courts money chest with that kind of thinking, catching criminals COSTS MONEY & the govenrment is trying to cut down on that.
Maybe they should just get rid of the homicide division all together & put them in traffic enforcement, they could all get their new ticket quotas & revenues could go even higher. Sure murders wouldn’t get solved, but looking at their track record, its not going to make that big an impact !
Sure yorkee, you must be proud that Halifax is the 7th most dangerous city in Canada, ya, cops are doing a wonderful job, and nothing needs to change. Maybe next year we can hit number 1. So let’s all be silent and have the city hit number 1.
2008 Halifax ranked 10th
2009 Halifax ranked 7th
More, then you don’t see too well. Very few cops give out parking tickets. That’s why they have Parking Enforcement, who are not police officers but Special Constables.
Transferring people may seem like a simple solution but it isn’t. Sure transfer a bunch of Traffic people to major crimes and people will bitch about speeders. But wait. Then you have to put them on advanced Investigator courses, courses that specialize in various crimes, etc. So now not only do you not have anyone on traffic but they’re not in Major Crimes either.
More I’m not sure what you do, but wht would happen if a part of your office/place of work is now at say 20-50% less than it is now.
And the one thing EVERYBODY here has missed is probably the most important thing in law enforcement – PAPERWORK. That 30 minute incident can wind up being 8 hours worth of paperwork and if you screw it up, you lose your case.
It is not as simple as you may think.
No its very simple, Bro Tim. Writing tickets MAKES THEM MONEY ! Catching criminals & putting them in jail COST MONEY.
Very Very Simple !
In my last 2 visits to downtown Halifax & Dartmouth, I have seen police officers on bicycles writing parking tickets. I have seen police officers walking the beat in the Gottigen st area…writing tickets. Then there is the ever popular speed trap under the ramp going to Hollis st. When they get a handle on the violent criminal activity going on…then IMO they can put extra officers on traffic duty. Leave the parking tickets & downtown radar traps to your so called special constables. After all they got 4×4’s & camera’s…how hard can it be .
Actual Police Officers are trained are they not ?
Well then lets put that training into practice & lets put more cops on the streets at night (when the crime rate goes up ) & lets stop worrying so much about who parks where & for how may damn minutes !
“No its very simple, Bro Tim. Writing tickets MAKES THEM MONEY ! Catching criminals & putting them in jail COST MONEY”
Who’s “Them” More? You know it’s YOU right? It’s your tax dollars that pay for the police service and the courts. If they weren’t enforcing by-laws to get revenue, YOUR taxes would be higher. Don’t want to support the greedy police force and their ticket scheme? It’s very very simple: don’t break the by-law.
Uhmm I hate to burst teh cop haters bubble here but just thought I would let you know that the revenue from speeding tickets goes to the PROVINCE and not the city so I fail to see how speeding tickets will raise revenue in the HRM but whatever I guess. As far as parking tickets go, if they did not write tickets you would have idiots leaving their car there all day. It is tough enough to find a parking spot in this city.
i would love to go to your work and critize every move you make during your eight hour shift…you worry about your duty as a taxpayer and let the police do their work.
Just for the record HRP, do 12 hour shifts, 7 to 7, four days on then four days off. One rotation you do all days, the next all nights.
And also, in regards to parking tickets, HRM distribute 200 thousand tickets annually, most by the 13 civilians employed in that capacity, the rest as follows:
HRM Police officers (250); RCMP Officers (45); Special Constables monitoring private property (350); HRM Fire Inspectors (11) and other specially designated HRM employees (10).
You’re close. It’s actually two days, two nights, four off, 12 hour shifts with a staggered shefit change of I believe 6 and 7 so there are officers out on the street, otherwise the criminals would do their things at shift change.
A HRM Police Cruiser SUV was riding the ass of my car crossing the MacKay Bridge yesterday, no lights/sirens on. I was doing 70, then increased to 80, and then 90….and he still rode my ass. The speed limit is 70km/hr on the bridge. Once we got to Windsor Street exhange he took off like a turd into the harbour down the Bedford Highway at least 100km/hr again with no sirens or lights on. Do the police think they can do whatever the hell they like?
Do you? You were doing 90 in a 70.
Ex-pat if you have concerns, then take the cruiser’s plate number or vehicle number and call the District Supervisor.