Police Chief issues statement on staffing concerns with HRP

Halifax Regional Police have now publicly responded to concerns raised by the Halifax Regional Police Association about staffing levels within the police force. HRPA raised a red flag this week about the number of resignations and retirements with the police department and the fact that many of the departures result from officers leaving for other policing jobs, particularly in the RCMP.

Friday afternoon Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella released a statement saying that his management team recognizes the union concerns and that his staff have been working directly with HRPA on addressing the issue. Kinsella says HRP has received approval from council to increase their staffing complement by 14 sworn officers and that 26 new recruits are set to graduate during the first week of July, which will help with the situation.

“Since the beginning of 2019, 121 members have left the organization due to retirements, resignations, and other reasons. During the same time, 137 sworn members have been brought on, which includes 26 cadets who are graduating next week to become police officers with HRP. Said Kinsella, “Due to unique circumstances from year to year, there will be some years that have a higher number of departures compared to the number we gain.”

Kinsella says that COVID-19 impacted the training of new candidates, but HRP is ramping up to exceed the past levels of recruitment within the department. As for the level of policing on the streets, Kinsella said HRP can respond to calls with the correct number of officers deployed based on our priority response model.

You can read Dan Kinsella’s entire statement on the city’s website.