Halifax needs to transform policing by integrating its local force and RCMP, study says
CBC
A new report calls for dramatic policing changes in Halifax to integrate the city's municipal police and RCMP, saying the current system is the "root cause" of many issues.
The Policing Model Transformation Study was released Friday ahead of next Tuesday's meeting of all council members to discuss the matter.
At over 400 pages, the report from consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers provides a detailed roadmap for a better policing structure in Halifax — underpinned by the clear message that the municipality does not have an integrated policing model, even though it has long been called that.
It suggests two ways forward for Halifax: create a truly integrated model or pick one agency to deliver policing.
"This is a pivotal report in my opinion," Coun. Becky Kent, chair of the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, said Friday.
"Change can happen. It should happen. It's being talked about across the country around policing, so this is a pathway to it."
Since amalgamation in 1996, RCMP have handled the rural parts of Halifax while Halifax Regional Police take urban calls.
Council asked for an analysis of the current situation two years ago. The report comes at a time when the province is planning to review overall policing in Nova Scotia, and finalize the province's policing standards.
The report said the Halifax Regional Municipality now has a "dual policing model," meaning both services operate in silos, and bringing different responses to the same residents.
"The presence of two disconnected police operating models in HRM is the root cause of many of the challenges faced today," the report says.
The report recommends the integrated model because it said that choice would be cheaper, happen more quickly, and be safer and better for the public in the long run. It would see the RCMP and Halifax police operate together as one entity with the same training, policies and standards.
The force would report directly to a strengthened board of police commissioners. That would be a major shift, as right now Halifax RCMP report to RCMP leadership in Nova Scotia and, ultimately, Ottawa.
The RCMP have resisted change in the past despite numerous reports calling for a review of the force's structure and training, including most recently the scathing Mass Casualty Commission's (MCC) report into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting.
The report also recommended that civilians respond to health and wellness calls. That is already a major goal of Halifax's current public safety strategy, the MCC report and a police defunding report in Halifax.
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