Halifax Regional Police
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The Halifax Regional Police is one of two law enforcement agencies operating in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia; the other being the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The force has a total strength of 615 sworn officers, 151 civilian staff, 170 crossing guards and 9 K-9 dogs. It is headed by Frank A. Beazley, Chief of Halifax Regional Police.
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[edit] Fleet
There are 233 vehicles of which 118 are marked vehicles and 115 are unmarked. These include cruisers, SUVs, vans, 12 motorcycles, 4 boats, a mobile command vehicle, 6 ATVs, and a forensics vehicle.
[edit] Other Vehicles
- 5 radar trailers
- 4 utility trailers
- 1 bomb trailer
- Volkswagen Beetle
[edit] Divisions
There two divisions: patrol and criminal operations. The patrol division has a special 8 car traffic unit, a park patrol unit, and a mounted unit (consisting of a single horse named Sarge), while the criminal operations division is mainly for investigative work.
The patrol division is divided up into three divisional areas:
- Bedford to Sambro Loop - West
- Peninsular Halifax- Central
- Dartmouth- East
[edit] History
The Halifax Police Department was first formed in 1749, although the police department has been operated in an unofficial manner since the first days of settlement. Each ship arriving in the port city of Halifax would appoint one member of the crew to act as a constable responsible for the actions of the crew and passengers on board. The Dartmouth police department was established in 1874 . The town of Bedford didn't have its own town police until 1982.
With the April 1, 1996 creation of the Halifax Regional Municipality, these police forces were dissolved and merged into the new Halifax Regional Police (HRP). Policing in the new municipality was split between HRP covering the boundaries of the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth and town of Bedford, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) covered rural areas in the rest of the municipality. This was originally enforced rather rigidly, but has since been relaxed as both forces are integrating their efforts in the urban core. Patrol boundaries were subsequently expanded for HRP to include the "Sambro Loop", since this area can only be reached by RCMP by passing through the area of Spryfield, which was part of the original city of Halifax. Most of these officers are considered "corrupt" by a good percentage of the Halifax community because they harrass more then they prevent crime. And this is a FACT.
[edit] United Nations
Three members made history in 1999 they were the first officers from a municipal force from Atlantic Canada to serve on a United Nations peacekeeping force in Kosovo . Since then and now 17 other HRP officers have served on peacekeeping mission in East Timor, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Haiti .
[edit] Other Facts
- A household in the Halifax Regional Municipality typically pays around $21.12 (Canadian dollars )per month for police protection.[citation needed]
- The Halifax Regional Police also do Bylaw enforcement for the HRM - pesticides,noise, smoking, dangerous & unsightly premises, sidewalk snow & ice removal, and curbside solid waste.
