Say what you like about the Mass Casualty Commission—call it expensive, disrespectful or a let down—you can’t deny there’s a lot to read on the commission website. And at the end of October, another 2,000 or so documents were made public, adding to the pile of statements, decisions, transcripts, foundational documents and such related to […]
RCMP
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New instructions to police expected to strengthen ban on street checks
A new law enforcement directive is meant to strengthen the existing ban on the racist practice of police street checks, which targeted Black Haligonians six times more often than white residents. Liberal and NDP critics for justice and African Nova Scotian affairs say they’re pleased with the change, but there’s more work to be done. “It’s […]
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The public inquiry announcement is only a first step
W hat if, dear Nova Scotians, we’ve been played? Bamboozled. That the whole review-not-an-inquiry announcement was a hot ploy? The government knew that no matter what it said about its plan to investigate the largest mass shooting in Canada’s history, folks would criticize and demand more. Families of murder victims bring an unquenchable moral outrage to […]
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Defunding the police is still a problem for Board of Police Commissioners
Earlier this month, Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners held a chaotic and tech-troubled virtual meeting—slated to discuss defunding the police, it was mired by a bad definition and hot tempers and only got through one item on the agenda. At the last meeting, a motion from staff outlined a suggested definition for what defunding the police […]
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The charges against Santina Rao have been dropped
A grapefruit, lettuce and two lemons. These are the supposedly concealed items mother of two Santina Rao was accused of smuggling out of the Mumford Road Walmart one Wednesday afternoon last January. A grapefruit, lettuce and two lemons, items worth altogether less than $10, a price she intended to pay but never got the chance […]
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Half of the city’s highest-paid staff work for Halifax Regional Police
Calls are being made across North America to reduce or redirect police budgets in the wake of another killing of an African-American man by police in the US. But the crime against George Floyd is far from the only reason citizens are ready to change the status quo—here in the Maritimes, a police officer responding […]
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Canada bans military-style assault rifles 12 days after mass shooting
On May 1, less than two weeks after Canada’s worst mass shooting to date, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on military-style assault weapons. “These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time,” he told the public during his […]
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Why didn’t Nova Scotia’s RCMP use the emergency alert system?
During last weekend’s tragic shootings, RCMP kept the public updated online via social media. The police didn’t take advantage of the province’s Emergency Alert System, which has previously been used for everything from missing people to COVID-19. “Public Health ordered us to put the COVID one out, we were happy to support them,” said Nova […]
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Nova Scotia RCMP give update on mass killings
A briefing from Nova Scotia RCMP on Monday afternoon confirmed that the death toll in the Nova Scotia shootings now totals at least 19. “We continue to gather information and seek out answers, but we can confirm now that there are in excess of 19 victims,” said Nova Scotia RCMP’s Criminal Operations Officer Chief Superintendent […]
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How to watch Nova Scotia RCMP press conference about today’s shootings
Nova Scotia RCMP will be giving a press conference about this morning’s killings in Portapique NS and area at 6pm AST. You can watch a live stream on CBC’s Youtube channel. Click here. RCMP were providing updates as the story unfolded this morning via their Twitter feed. On April 18 at 11:30 RCMP reported a […]
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Halifax Regional Police review suggests reorganization, more civilian input
It’s time for a little re-organizing at Halifax Police Headquarters now that regional council has approved a slew of recommendations designed to amp up the “effectiveness and efficiencies” of policing in HRM, including new roles for civilians. In November 2019, Vancouver-based Perivale and Taylor Consulting prepared a $195,000 report on the internal workings of Halifax’s […]
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Moving beyond Nova Scotia’s street check ban
Just days after the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission delivered its landmark report on street checks last March, DeRico Symonds took to the streets. Despite the report’s finding that Black people in Halifax were six times more likely to be stopped by police than their representation in the population would suggest, and the Black community’s […]