Halifax’s police chief says meeting with province productive, more community outreach needed

HALIFAX – Halifax’s police chief called Wednesday’s meeting with provincial and municipal officials productive, as all parties involved look at what more can be done to curb violence within the city and the province.

Jean-Michel Blais attended the meeting with a number of officials, including Halifax Mayor Mike Savage and Nova Scotia Justice Minister Diana Whalen, among others.

Blais said several things were discussed at the meeting, including the progress of the investigations into the three most recent shooting deaths in the area, as well as an overview of what’s being done within the community to help slow the rate of violence.

“What we’re seeing is that if we keep doing the same things, we’re going to get the same result,” Blais said, adding that frustration in the community is palpable, as seen when hundreds took the street last weekend during an anti-violence march.

“Frustration is not necessarily a bad thing, what it does is it forces people to start acting and doing things…and to say ‘hey, enough is enough.”

The current co-ordination level between RCMP and HRP was also discussed, but Blais said it was found to be working just fine and he’s looking for improvements in other areas, such as community outreach.

“We have to be able to look at the long term challenges and not just the short-term with quick fixes, and a good part of that is the underlying causes that result in this gun violence and all forms of violence,” he said.

Blais is also looking at the creation of a municipality-wide consultation process involving various community and cultural groups, who would be able to add their own concerns and voices to police and the public at large.

Halifax’s Regional Municipality’s Public Safety Advisor was also present during the meeting, according to Blais, who he said will be taking “take the lead on some of the issues we are looking at.”

He said no specific new asks were made of the provincial government in terms of more resources for police, as Chief Blais said he would like to make sure they’re using every tool at their disposal before looking outward.

“We can’t arrest our way out this,” he said. “The city has supported our request for analysts, for more policing resources and training and I want us to use what we have to the best possible means before we go back to the table and ask for more.”

Cease Fire was also part of the stakeholder meeting, as the non-profit community group works on the ground to end violence in communities.

Blais said work by groups like Cease Fire is essential to aiding police in keeping violent crime out of Halifax neighbourhoods.

“One of the biggest things is influence, peer influence, if you can have mothers’, fathers’, sisters’, brothers’, talking to these young men who carry firearms and say ‘Why are you doing that? Do you realize you’re attracting the potential for violence?”‘

“We also have to provide them with reasons to do that.”

Justice Minister Diana Whalen said after the meeting that she had full confidence in local police, which during such a stressful and busy time, Blais said is nice to hear, as he has spoken with a few investigators who are looking “very fatigued.”

Tyler Richards, 29, Naricho Clayton, 23 and Daverico Downey, 20, were all shot and killed in a six day span the ended last Saturday. No suspects have been named in any of the homicides, which police believe could be connected, and no arrests have been made.