HALIFAX -- The Board of Police Commissioners will meet with Halifax’s police chief this week to discuss the problem of missing evidence.
Halifax Regional Police say they have now located some of the missing exhibits, but are unable to say exactly how many.
As police continue to search for the remainder, the Board of Police Commissioners would like to know why they weren’t informed earlier.
“There's something wrong with that,” said Halifax councillor and commission member Stephen Adams.
The board’s chairman, Councillor Russell Walker, says he was informed during a meeting with the chief the day before the audit was released publicly.
“I'm not too sure the process is clear right now, so going forward, maybe the process should be spelled a little bit differently than it is today,” he said.
Halifax Police declined to comment on what will be discussed with the board until after the chief meets with them Thursday.
“I see my role as a police commissioner to be one of oversight and civilian governance, it's hard to do that job effectively and proactively without the information,” said commissioner and lawyer Jeff Mitchell.
Councillor Adams says the fact that the commission wasn't informed about the missing evidence earlier raises a larger issue. He says he has concerns about overall governance.
“Why aren't we like the rest of the country? Almost every other police force in Canada has the police chief directly reporting to the Police Commission.”
Documents obtained by CTV News reveal quotes from an officer’s interview during the audit, including the following:
- “We handle money with just one person. I feel exposed when it comes to weights and cash counts.”
- “Exhibits destroyed prior to completion of judicial process, changes plea and goes to trial, evidence no longer available.”
“Those are troubling quotes as they're written there,” said Halifax Regional Police Supt. Jim Perrin. “Unfortunately, we don't have any context to who those quotes came from or what they were specifically pertaining to, like for instance a specific case.”
Supt. Perrin maintains no court cases have been impacted at this point.
The police commissioners will be asking more questions about that on Thursday.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell.