At a meeting where it was expected to debate defunding the police, Halifax’s police board voted to debate appointing a committee to define defunding the police — at its next meeting. The board of police commissioners had a lengthy agenda for its meeting on Thursday, but after starting more than half an hour later due […]
Halifax police board to discuss defunding, body cameras, making policies public
For the first time since the movement to defund police took hold across North America, Halifax’s board of police commissioners has scheduled a meeting. The city previously cancelled all the board’s meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aside from those dealing with the budget in early May. El Jones reported last month that that the […]
Halifax to measure ‘citizen satisfaction and public confidence’ in police
The municipality is hoping to find out what citizens think of the cops with a new survey, and it’s looking for a polling firm to do the work. Halifax posted a request for proposals (RFP) Tuesday looking for a contractor for a standing offer to “allow HRP and Halifax District RCMP to establish an ongoing […]
We need to keep talking about racism
Morning File, Tuesday, June 16, 2020
News 1. Board of police commissioners’ meeting cancelled and other tales of non-transparency and lack of accountability El Jones writes about the cancellation of today’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting, ostensibly because — three months into the pandemic — they can’t figure out how to use Microsoft Teams. Jones writes: As the movement to defund […]
In the midst of a crisis over policing, Halifax’s police commission has cancelled its scheduled meetings and is declining to accept public input
I've got 99 problems; Microsoft Teams ain’t one of them.
In the midst of sustained protests about policing, and facing increasing questioning about their role and responsibilities, the Board of Police Commissioners cancelled their meeting planned for today. Members of the Board indicated to Harry Critchley that the reason for the cancellation was that not everybody on the Board was set up to use Microsoft […]
Street check apology misses the point: Black people continue to be profiled and surveilled
Before and after Friday, the community and media will be caught up in the wording of the apology, whether we are happy with the apology, and whether we accept the apology or not. All of this is happening on the terms of the police. Let us not forget that they refused to apologize, then changed their minds, and yet we are expected to show up when they finally feel like it.
On Friday, November 29, Halifax Police Chief Dan Kinsella will apologize to the African Nova Scotian community for street checks. The apology comes after the police initially rejected calls to apologize. The Halifax Board of Police Commissioners prepared a statement at their April 15th meeting asking both the RCMP and the Halifax Regional Police to […]
The provincial government is thinking about using bogus “carbon offsets”
Morning File, Monday, September 16, 2019
News 1. Dorian “On Sept. 3, 2019, as deadly, destructive Dorian zeroed in on southeastern US coastal states, the four biggest American wireless carriers — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint — all pre-emptively announced plans to help their customers stay connected,” writes Stephen Kimber: Verizon, for example offered unlimited calling, texting and data from Sept. […]
An astonishing display of cowardice: city councillors are ignoring police misconduct in the Assoun case
As we are learning that the Halifax police willfully acted to keep an innocent man in prison, the politicians responsible for civilian oversight of the police department are deafeningly silent. Meanwhile, unelected bureaucrats and lawyers at City Hall have attempted to keep the police misconduct hidden by a publication ban. According to his lawyers, police […]
Update: HRM turns a $300,000 annual profit through police Background Checks for volunteers
On Wednesday, the Budget Committee of Halifax Regional Council will consider whether to make background checks for students and volunteers free, as they are everywhere else across the province. In Halifax, approximately 11,700 volunteers a year pay $30 to police or an online provider to determine if the individual has any prior convictions or pardons […]
What Black kids think about cops
It’s been an eventful week in police accountability in Canada. On Monday, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a report on race and policing showing Black people are “overrepresented in several types of violent police interactions, including use-of-force cases, shootings, deadly encounters and fatal shootings.” The Broken Trust report from the Office of the Independent […]