HRM residents frustrated over police budgets: ‘When will you start listening?’

HALIFAX, N.S. — Many of the 26 residents who spoke in front of Halifax regional councillors on Wednesday expressed how frustrating it was to have to keep speaking out against increases for police budgets year after year.

“We are here because we have to beg to even have our voices recognized by the city,”  Emmerson Roach told the budget committee on Wednesday. “Police have sought to increase their salaries above all else even when it means casting active harm to the community, even when their budget could be better allocated to social services that would actually solve the problems at the root of crime.”

Social worker Isaac Wright said many clients have talked about being traumatized by police during mental health calls.

“Halifax needs robust community interventions, not more police officers,” Wright said. “I have worked with people who died by suicide because they knew the police-based services available to them in crisis would not support them.”

For years, residents have been urging council for change, to divert funding for police to initiatives like housing, food security and community mental health services, Wright said.

“I ask you, when will you start listening?”

Police budget increases

The Halifax Board of Police Commissioners recommended council endorse an HRP budget of $98,011,400 for 2024-2025 — that’s an increase of more than $5.7 million from last year — and includes funding for 22 new positions. The original request from HRP was for 24 officers.

The Halifax District RCMP is asking for six additional positions, at a cost of more than $1.1 million.

HRP and RCMP representatives say the growing population is putting strain on their services which are already stretched thin. HRP has eight secondments right now (officers working with other agencies), and about 60 officers who are off on long-term sick leave.

And both the crime severity index and the violent crime severity index have increased in recent years in HRM.

Coun. Lindell Smith (Halifax Peninsula North), who also sits on the police board, said it’s a little disheartening to hear that they’re not listening.  Smith said he agrees with a lot of the speakers’ points and didn’t vote in favour of the budget at the police commission.

“We heard a lot of really passionate people today who said a lot of stuff which I think they’d be surprised how many of us agree with a lot of what they said,” said Coun. Waye Mason (Halifax South Downtown).

Police officers and landlords

There were a handful of people speaking in favour of the increases — they were either police officers, representing police or landlords.

When Jason Snow, with the Halifax Regional Police Association, started speaking, most of the people in the gallery got up to leave. At least one person shouted that “he works for the police he shouldn’t be speaking,” but Mayor Mike Savage said everyone has the right to speak.

“We have an increase in population, but our frontline resources are not increasing to reach that,” said Snow.

Mike Burgess, a landlord from North Dartmouth, said he’s provided affordable housing for decades and when needed, HRP has been there.

“Their jobs are difficult, dangerous and challenging,” he said.

“It’s vital that the appropriate investment in the police force not be depreciated or overlooked.”

Sgt. Phil Power, with the Halifax Regional Police’s union, said many officers are off with stress-related injuries.

“We need recruitment like there’s no tomorrow,” he said, adding that facilities like the prisoner care facility (booking) need funding.

“What’s happening is it’s almost a toxic place to come to work due to our facilities and the fact that we can’t do a lot of our jobs.”

Pat Bouchard spoke on behalf of the National Police Federation, which represents RCMP officers — including the 190 in HRM.

He said the police-officer-to-population ratio (cop-to-pop) has been getting smaller and smaller and will soon be among the lowest in the country.

“In our view, this is the minimum investment ($1.1 million increase) HRM should make to enhance public safety and ease pressures on current Halifax Regional Municipality detachment RCMP members.”

In the end

Why support the police budget when so many people spoke out against it? Coun. Tony Mancini (Harbourview – Burnside – Dartmouth East) said it’s because so many more of his constituents are regularly calling out for more police. 

In her district, Coun. Pam Lovelace (Hammonds Plains – St. Margarets) said people are asking for more police, she said.

It was a very long day at the budget committee on Wednesday and in the end, there wasn’t a vote on it either way. Mason said he couldn’t comfortably vote on an increase on the police budget without first seeing the community safety budget, which was cut last year. Eight positions were cut, he said, and they’re needed for the Public Safety Strategy that council endorsed but didn’t fund.

Mason said that after the RCMP budget comes up at the budget committee meeting on Friday, he will ask to defer the votes on both police budgets pending more information on what’s happening with community safety.