Halifax begins planning its new response to public safety issues

Halifax is looking at transforming its police service and has hired a former deputy police chief to lead the charge.

Bill Moore is settling into his new role as the executive director of community safety with the Halifax Regional Municipality. He's been on the job for a month. Instead of calling it "defunding" the police, Moore prefers to call it "de-tasking."

"Police are a vital part of the response mechanism and part of the community safety ecosystem. But I think there's agreement that in some cases a different type of response may be more appropriate and may lead to better outcomes," said Moore.

This is Moore's second time working for the municipality. He spent 31 with the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) and was deputy chief for the last four, before his retirement.

Moore, who’s spent two years in Ottawa, Ont., as the executive director of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, says he understands the need to modernize policing services.

Part of his new job is to find better ways to address public safety and deliver services.

The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) has reorganized several of its service departments to fall under the direction of the new community safety division, including:

• public safety
• housing and homelessness
• food security
• emergency management
• and compliance.

"It's about bringing these pieces together and providing a structure to continue with the strategic side and being also able to create a function and capacity to start delivering programming on a greater scale," said Moore.

There have been numerous studies done examining policing and public safety, from the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission, to the Wortley Report on Street Checks in Halifax, to the HRM Defunding Police Report — many called for more police accountability, and community participation in policing.

Bill Moore, executive director of community safety with HRM, stands outside Halifax City Hall on April 27, 2023. (Jesse Thomas/CTV)

"I think there's been a recognition, not just here in HRM, but also nationally, that some of the responses that have historically been police responses, may need a different response," said Moore. "Police will still be a part of that but they may not be the primary response to everything."

But Moore acknowledges there's a challenge: the Halifax RCMP and HRP don't work well together, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, an international professional services firm.

"THE CURRENT MODEL IS SIMPLY NOT PRODUCTIVE"

It says there's little coordination between the two police services and their relationship has gotten worse in recent years. The report says it's a public safety concern.

It recommends Halifax adopt an integrated police system — merging services between the RCMP and HRP — or transition to a single-service model.

But it’s not clear if the two forces can work in lockstep.

"There's a lot of moving parts but the good thing is that there seems to be a will to move things forward and look at transformative change," said Moore.

The National Police Federation — the union that represents regular members of the RCMP — said it welcomes the recommendation to fully integrate the two police services in Halifax and believes it would lead to cost efficiencies for the municipality and improve morale in the work environment.

"It has become clear over time that collaboration, integration, and the strength of the relationship between the RCMP and HRP is deteriorating, and that the current model is simply not productive," said the National Police Federation in a statement.

The union says HRM residents deserve a policing model that best suits the community's "evolving public safety needs."

"Our Members, as well as members of the HRP, deserve a working environment that enables an efficient and cooperative workplace."

A Halifax Regional Police vehicle is pictured in an undated file photo. (Paul DeWitt/CTV Atlantic)

The time for transformation seems right, says Coun. Tony Mancini.

He references the recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission and the municipality's public safety strategy as drivers for change.

"I think the timing was bang on to have this conversation and the timing of the growth of our municipality. We are growing like we've never grown before so we need to have this conversation now," said Mancini.

Council received the police transformation study on Tuesday and approved it. Now, it's going to the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners for review.

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