[Image-1] Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners has failed “for the past 10 years” in its legislated requirement to provide civilian oversight to the police department. That was the conclusion of a governance report brought to Monday’s board of commissioners meeting, which set the table for a radical departure in how police services will be managed […]
Police
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police overtime spikes in wake of homicides
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 The police department has blown through nearly its entire overtime budget in the first two quarters of the fiscal year. Halifax Regional Police (HRP) confirm $2.25 million has been spent on overtime between April and October of this year. That leaves less than half a million in the department’s $2.7 million budget for the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Third shooting death within 10 days
A 22-year-old man is dead following a shooting in north end Halifax. According to Halifax Regional Police, officers responded to a report of gunshots in the area of Falkland Street and Gottingen Street at 10:47pm Police found a man who had been shot inside of a vehicle. Tyler Ronald Joseph Keizer of Halifax was brought […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Another shooting death in Halifax
[Image-1] There’s been another homicide in HRM, the eleventh so far this year. According to Halifax Regional Police, officers received several reports of gunshots on Cragg Avenue, off of Uniacke Street, at 11:07pm. Police responding to the area found a male who had been shot and was suffering from life-threatening injuries outside of a residence. […]
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What does a police research coordinator do?
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Halifax Regional Police recently welcomed Dr. Chris Giacomantonio as its new research coordinator. It’s a civilian position in the department that’s responsible for pushing HRP along into a more evidence-based (and hopefully, more efficient) approach to policing. Giacomantonio is from Nova Scotia originally, but received his PhD in criminology from the University of Oxford, […]
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Strong civilian oversight needed for Canadian police, says George Elliott Clarke
[Image-1] Nova Scotian George Elliott Clarke is Canada’s seventh parliamentary poet laureate. He’s a writer, scholar, university professor, much-travelled pundit, civil-rights advocate and a mentor to young poets and other writers. Last year, he penned a newspaper commentary about race, prejudice and strong civilian oversight of police forces after yet another white cop in the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
No safe way home
[Image-1] Take a cab. It’ll be safer. For many people out at night, looking for a secure way home, it’s a familiar refrain. Lately, a different kind of phrase is becoming familiar. And for some women, the safety promised by taxis has been anything but. Since the start of 2016, five sexual assaults have been […]
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“I only ever ride in a cab if I’m ready to fight for my life.”
[Image-1] The Coast asked our readers if they’ve ever been assaulted or dealt with creepy, inappropriate or harassing behaviour by a cab driver. Here are the stories you shared. ——— “In July 2009, I was assaulted by a driver. I had a great chat with him while he was driving me home and thought I’d […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police release statistics about taxi driver sexual assaults
[Image-1] In response to the recent string of sexual assaults involving taxi drivers, on Monday Halifax Regional Police took the unusual step of releasing a breakdown of similar incidents that have occurred in the last five years. “We’re providing context so citizens can make informed decisions about their personal safety, and also outlining the police […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police board orders a decade of audits released to the public
[Image-1] Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners wants 10 years worth of internal audits from the police department released to the public, mostly so they don’t have to read any more embarrassing reports about themselves in the press. At a special meeting held Thursday afternoon, the board listened to HRP chief Jean-Michel Blais, deputy chief Bill […]
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Drug audit “exposes serious problems” for Halifax police
[Image-1] Last week The Coast published an investigation into a previously-unreleased drug exhibit audit done by Halifax Police that had found high rates of missing evidence, insecure storage and poor evidence continuity. As a result, HRM’s Board of Police Commissioners called an emergency meeting this week and several defence lawyers in Halifax are now wondering […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Board of Police Commissioners calls special meeting about drug exhibit audit
[Image-1] A special meeting of HRM’s Board of Police Commissioners has been called for this week after an internal police audit found over half of the Criminal Investigation Division’s drug exhibits might be missing. Completed last summer, and revised with a further investigation this past spring, the audit was released to The Coast two weeks […]
