rcmp here to stay, nova scotia justice minister says; so are municipal police forces, declares new glasgow chief
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a large police presence in a hammonds plains neighbourhood in november 2024.
tim krochak
/
the chronicle herald
two assurances have surfaced in the immediate aftermath of the nova scotia police review.
the rcmp will serve as the provincial force here long past the expiration of its contract in 2032, says justice minister becky druhan.
municipal police agencies are also here to stay, says the new glasgow police chief.
“any interest in an independent policing organization, an independent provincial police, would require significant time, significant investment above and beyond what is required to shift to the rcmp so we certainly have no plans to do that at this time and we’re looking forward to the negotiations to support a renewed agreement (with the rcmp) in 2032,” druhan said in an interview this week.
“the rcmp have been providing provincial policing services in nova scotia for decades. that contract is negotiated on a 20-year basis. the next round of negotiations is coming up in 2032 and preparations are underway for that. we look forward to the outcome of that and the way that it fits within the work that we’re doing to transform policing in nova scotia.”
druhan said the rcmp are “very well positioned” to deliver provincial policing in nova scotia.
“they have resources that enable them to respond quickly, to shift resources across the province from place to place, they have extensive quality training and they have access to specialized services that are not available anywhere else, including cybercrime units, investigatory teams around major crimes, forensic services and others.
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“they are very well positioned to support the transformation of policing here in nova scotia.”
that transformation, as outlined in the police review presented on june 25, accepted recommendations from a consultant report by deloitte that included six foundational changes and expansion of the provincial police service.
“my stance is that municipal policing in nova scotia is here to stay,” said chief ryan leil of new glasgow regional police, a spokesman for the municipal chiefs caucus in the nova scotia chiefs of police association.
justice minister becky druhan answers questions from reporters at one government place in halifax about the release of a policing review on june 25.
ryan taplin
/
the chronicle herald
“i am deeply committed to the sustainability of municipal policing in the town of new glasgow and the province of nova scotia, deeply committed to all of the employees that work for new glasgow regional police and deeply committed to the citizens that we serve,” leil said.
the province is currently served by the rcmp, which is responsible for policing over 50 per cent of nova scotians and over 80 per cent of the province’s land mass, and 10 distinct municipal police forces serving the regional municipalities of halifax and cape breton and the smaller municipalities of amherst, annapolis royal, bridgewater, kentville, new glasgow, stellarton, truro and westville.
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in presenting the police review, druhan said the 10 municipalities involved may choose to maintain their independent policing agencies by providing full and complete services and contracting with the rcmp for specialized services or they may shift to a provincial policing model and have the rcmp provide all of their policing services.
‘change needs to happen’
some municipalities felt the province was basically forcing them to make the transformation to have rcmp take over police from their municipal agencies.
“we heard loud and clear from nova scotians that change needs to happen and we’ve been provided with some detailed recommendations from deloitte which we’ve accepted,” druhan said.
“this is a big change for sure for policing in our province and we appreciate the role of our municipal partners in this. we share the goal with those partners of the safety of nova scotians and we started our important conversations with them. we began meetings this week with the town of bridgewater and we’re scheduling meetings with the other municipalities that have policing agencies to begin our work together, ensuring that this transformation happens.”
druhan said the department appreciates the chiefs’ perspectives and values the input they provided during the review and the incredible service that they provide to nova scotians.
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“the reality is that the current system is not working equally well for all nova scotians. we need to consider this system as a whole and the abilities to deliver service to nova scotians across the province. the rcmp brings province-wide resources in specialized capacity that smaller agencies can’t match, like critical incident teams, forensic services and the ability to deploy quickly.”
leil takes umbrage with that view.
a new glasgow regional police cruiser on the streets patrolled by the municipal force.
postmedia news
“the core service delivery that we provide to the municipalities of new glasgow and trenton is second to none,” said leil, promoted to chief in september 2024 after 20 years on the force that has 33 sworn officers serving a population of about 13,000 that can swell threefold on any given day as the commercial hub of the region.
“we’re very proud of our community based policing model that we provide to our citizens, how visible we are, how responsive we are, how ingrained in the community and how aware we are of the community needs.
“policing is not broken in new glasgow, municipal policing is not broken in nova scotia. is there room for improvement, there’s always room for improvement.”
leil wants to debunk an impression that he says seems to exist across the province that municipal police forces fared poorly in meeting the 39 policing standards introduced by the province in september 2024.
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“i know for a fact in municipal policing they (standards) were being met because i reviewed them thoroughly and i’ve looked at it through a policy lens and identified any area where policy had to be changed or modified or updated,” leil said.
“these standards were being achieved throughout the province, they were being achieved by the incredible core service delivery of municipal police agencies throughout the province, in partnership with one another.”
trending in wrong direction
leil says the deloitte report recommended exploring an independent provincial police service, not a simple expansion of the rcmp, and he contends that the department extrapolated pieces of the deloitte report that align with the direction the department views as most appropriate going forward.
“what’s most troubling is it’s the opposite direction from the trend we’re seeing across the country,” leil said. “if you look at surrey, b.c., if you look at grand prairie in the province of alberta, you have more municipalities moving away from contract policing with the rcmp than you have moving forward with it. we have our province going in the opposite direction of everyone else, which has to be alarming.”
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leil said nova scotia is a small province but the communities in the province are very unique and have their own needs, challenges and opportunities.
“policing is a service that ought to be responsive to what’s happening around it socially,” he said. “if you take that flexibility away, and you centralize that and take it away from municipalities, are you delivering a one size fits all. you look at municipal policing, i will use ours as an example, many of our people are born and raised and play integral parts in the communities that they work. they live here, they raise their families. they’re invested, they’re part of the fabric of the community.
“that has been the bread and butter of municipal policing in nova scotia, it’s our connectivity to our communities, the pulse that we have, the ownership that we have, the sense of responsibility.”
hayley crichton, executive director of public safety and security with the nova scotia justice department, answers questions from reporters at one government place in halifax about the release of a policing review on june 25.
ryan taplin
/
the chronicle herald
druhan said her meeting with bridgewater officials tuesday was the first of a summer schedule of meetings with municipalities that have independent police agencies.
audits of all the policing services in nova scotia, including the rcmp, will begin in september.
the minister said she does not want to presuppose which way specific municipalities are leaning in regards to maintaining their independent policing agencies or shifting to have the rcmp provide all of their policing services.
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neither does she want to presuppose the results of the audits for standards compliance.
druhan said of the six foundational policing changes that deloitte recommended, the department will be moving forward quickly to introduce a new single, province-wide data-sharing and record management system.
overall, the changes “will take years not months,” she said.
“this is a big transformation, so i can say that our priority that i know our municipal partners share, is that we deliver policing across the province that is high quality and it doesn’t vary from place to place,” druhan said.
“that’s what nova scotians have asked for and that’s what we need to deliver.”
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