A presentation on HRM’s dual policing model to the Board of Police Commissioners marks the beginning of discussions around implementing integrated policing for the region.
Monday night’s special meeting saw the board discuss the division of policing responsibilities in HRM between Halifax Regional Police (HRP) and the RCMP.
“This is really, from the community members point of view, about fundamentally rethinking community safety and the community safety ecosystem and how it interacts within HRM,” said PwC Engagement Manager Joshua Oviatt.
In April 2022, HRM contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to deliver an independent report reviewing the current policing model in the region and to put forward recommendations for a future model.
“In the report we really tried to convey … that an ultimate end goal for the city may be an integrated model, but that in the interim there is significant work that can start soon,” PwC partner Bronwyn Burke said during the presentation.
“They (RCMP and HRP) are not trained to deliver services and provide services in identical ways,” Oviatt said of the study’s findings. “There are differences in how they are trained, and that flows through to the operations and the services that they provide.”
While core policing responsibilities of both services revolve around similar functions, the study found that the standards and the delivery of training varies.
According to the study, the two policing systems are merged, but operated distinctly and with “little to no coordination or integration.”
Burke stated that leadership is disconnected and there is little to no coordination of recourses, and limited interoperability.
Based on the review, the board voted in favour of directing HRP’s Chief and the RCMP’s Officer in Charge to work with the Community Safety Office to prepare a staff report by the end of this year.
The report will outline the necessary steps to achieve an integrated operating model for the region.
HRM Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Cathie O’Toole says planning needs to start now and a committee needs to be chosen to meet end-of-year goals.
“I would say we need to strike our committee and start meeting every … two weeks, probably,” said O’Toole. “The working group is going to have to put a lot of heavy lifting in between now and the end of the year, I think, to get us where we need to be.”
The independent review saw 18 different organizations across HRM engaged for the report.
Stakeholders agreed that transformational change is necessary.
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