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 […]
Street Checks
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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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Board of Police Comissioner’s last meeting of 2019 gives update on street checks
At a Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Monday, both the HRP and RCMP Chiefs gave updates on how community engagement is going following the Wortley Report. The 186-page report from University of Toronto criminology professor Scot Wortley found that street checks overwhelmingly target people of colour. On average, from 2006 to 2017, Black people […]
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“We have failed you,” police chief Dan Kinsella tells Black community
It was an important day for Halifax’s Black community as it heard, for the very first time, the official apology from one of the institutions that has caused it harm and grief for generations. Halifax Regional Police chief Dan Kinsella addressed an audience of about 100 people Friday morning at the Halifax Central Library. […]
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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 […]
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Nova Scotia’s street check moratorium to become permanent ban
Seven months after the release of Scot Wortley’s report on street checks—which found that Black people were five to six times more likely to be street checked than their proportion of the population would predict—the province has made up its mind. Today, justice minister Mark Furey announced a permanent ban on the practice of street […]
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HRP to purge street check data by December 2020
At this week’s board of police comissioners meeting Halifax police chief Dan Kinsella said HRP is keeping its plan from June 2019 to purge all data and metadata regarding street checks in December 2020. In March 2019 the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and Scot Wortley released their report on street checks which reported on […]
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Street checks still dominate Board of Police Commissioners meetings
I t’s been a busy few months for the Halifax board of police commissioners, and its last meeting saw its first ever presentation from members of the public. The Halifax Coalition To Ban Street Checks presented a petition with 3,551—and counting—signatures from the community calling for a ban on street checks. In her address, organizer […]
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HRP and RCMP say ‘not yet’ to Board of Police Commissioners apology request
Slow and steady appears to be the tactic taken by those in power since Scot Wortley’s street check report was released in March. At Monday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting, interim police chief Robin McNeil explained why the HRP won’t be apologizing just yet for the harm caused by street checks, saying it would be […]
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Youth members of street check report working group are fed up and have walked out
T rayvone Clayton, DeRico Symonds, Shevy Price and Kate Macdonald have walked out of the Wortley Street Check Action Working Group. Their statement, released Monday, explains: “During the third meeting, we became aware of the intended purpose of the working group,” it says. “This information we received counteracted with our beliefs and the communities’ beliefs […]
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Halifax announces Dan Kinsella as next regional police chief
T he long-awaited replacement for retired regional police chief Jean-Michel Blais will be Dan Kinsella. Currently the deputy chief of operations for the Hamilton Police Services, Kinsella doesn’t officially start until July 1. Residents will have to wait and see if he’s the future face of change in the Halifax police force. “He just rose […]
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Street check suspension buying time before regulation
Last week justice minister Mark Furey announced a moratorium on street checks “until further notice.” The decision followed Scot Wortley’s report for the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission that found Black men people are six times more likely to be street checked by police than white men and a strong recommendation from the Board of […]