[Image-1] In response to The Coast’s cover story this week, Halifax Regional Police and the Halifax district RCMP just released a public statement on the drug exhibit audit that took place last year. It’s printed below in its entirety. The police have also provided a “final” version of the audit as a PDF. Attached at […]
Police
Posted inNews + Opinion
Continuity errors
An internal audit by Halifax Regional Police has uncovered the department’s shocking habit of losing track of drugs and money seized as evidence. Conducted last summer and released to The Coast under the Freedom of Information Act, the audit found a nearly 90 percent failure rate within the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) for evidence continuity. […]
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Weapons of mass intimidation
[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 […]
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Halifax’s crime rate dropped nearly 8 percent last year
[Image-1] Overall crime is once again down in Halifax, but 2015 saw a dramatic increase in homicides, robberies and traffic violations. Year-end statistics released by Halifax Regional Police show a nearly eight percent decrease in total Criminal Code offences in 2015 compared to 2014. That includes double-digit drops in attempted murder (by 35 percent), theft […]
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Police conduct investigators had a banner year in 2015
[Image-1] Nova Scotia’s investigative-oversight agency probing major police incidents has been managing more cases than expected, its annual report says. The report for 2014-15 from the Serious Incident Response Team says 34 new investigations were opened during the year. “SIRT is now handling a workload almost 75 percent greater than originally anticipated,” lawyer Ron MacDonald, […]
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Police department concludes internal audit into evidence control
[Image-1] At least 12 items have gone missing from the Halifax Regional Police department’s evidence control over the past three years, the result of some innocent mistakes according to deputy chief Bill Moore. “It turns out they were misplaced in the exhibit room,” Moore says. “It doesn’t appear it was an intentional thing.” According to […]
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Canada’s “secret epidemic” of police domestic violence
[Image-1] Cops make terrifying villains. They’re trained in the use of physical force. They know how to find people who don’t want to be found. They own, and bring home, guns. For the kind of person who craves control, it’s an attractive job. And if control is one of the main drivers behind domestic violence, […]
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Police wives and stories of domestic assault
[Image-1] Alex Roslin has been writing about this topic for a while. In 2004, his stark portrayal of the murder of Lucie Gélinas by RCMP constable Jocelyn Hotte was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Several years ago he met Susanna Hope (not her real name)—a survivor of 20 years of domestic abuse from her […]
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6 things to get you going this Tuesday
1 Nova Scotia’s film folks continue to express their anguish over the Liberal government’s changes to this province’s tax credit system. A new website chronicles some of the industry professionals who have moved—or seem to be planning to move—elsewhere for work. So far there’s six. A crowdfunding campaign has also been set up to recoup […]
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The safety dance: Crosswalk safety still sadly up to pedestrians
[Image-1] As the seasons change from wintery hell to blistering heat, so too do causes of pedestrian injuries morph from unsafe sidewalks to traffic collisions. It must be summer. Yesterday, a 40-year-old woman was hit in a crosswalk at the intersection of Hollis and Morris. The police say she received minor injuries to her hand […]
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Assaults are up, theft is down in first quarter police stats
[Image-1] Crime is down in Halifax. That’s according to the first quarter stats for 2015 released by Halifax Police, which saw an overall drop of eight percent (or 358 cases) compared to the same period last year. Violent crime, however, has jumped 11 points compared to the first quarter of 2014. Assaults are up by […]
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Drew Butler arrested, released over Mic Mac Mall threats
[Image-1] “I just kept telling them, ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’” Drew Butler didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. The 24-year-old had been playing video games yesterday at his Clayton Park apartment while Halifax Police were frantically trying to arrest him. Someone had anonymously sent in a tip to the cops that […]
