Halifax police chief says he's losing sleep over escalating gun violence throughout the city

Halifax's chief of police says he's concerned with the escalating gun violence in the city.

Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella told the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners the escalating gun violence around the city "keeps me awake at night."

"It's a very serious issue that's affecting us in our community," said Kinsella, during his opening remarks to the board. "I know that this is an issue on your minds and the communities' minds."

According to Kinsella, there have been 13 shooting incidents already this year, with eight people reporting gunshot injuries.

Halifax police responded to 47 shooting incidents last year, compared to 21 incidents in 2020 and 10 in 2019.

"Part of our approach has been to remove illegal guns from the street and we have been focused on that very heavily and will continue to be," said Kinsella.

Halifax police have already seized 163 illegal guns this year, compared to 264 guns last year.

"We are making every effort to further investigations involving guns and we are making every effort to get illegal guns off the street," said Kinsella.

Four of the six homicides Halifax police are investigating this year have been gun-related.

Commissioners questioned Kinsella about the root causes of the shootings, but the chief wouldn't give specifics.

"There are a number of factors that drive what's going, we certainly don't know them all, we do our very best. We're taking an intelligence-led approach, particularly in our integrated guns and gangs unit," he said.

As of early June, Halifax District RCMP says they've responded to six crimes involving guns.

"We are seeing an increase in gun violence in Halifax District RCMP area, as well as our seizures are up," said RCMP Insp. Jeremie Landry.

Halifax RCMP responded to 26 gun calls in 2021 and 34 in 2020.

With the increase in gun violence, Kinsella is appealing to the Nova Scotia public prosecution service for help.

"We have requested consideration for a dedicated crown prosecutor for firearm offenses," said Kinsella.