Halifax police services to clarify policies around homeless people

The Halifax Board of Police Commissioners is exploring the rules around how police remove people who are living in public spaces. 

That was after a public request for a formal policy on how police engage with unhoused people living in public spaces. 

Robyn Tress, a community activist, asked for a policy on police interactions with homeless people. She said it stems from what she's seen in the city's parks and streets. 

"It never ceases to amaze me the ability of this municipality to invent new ways to criminalize unhoused people and strip away human dignity," said Tress. "Until yesterday, I didn't know that you could get renovicted from a park. But here we are."

On Tuesday, the municipality revealed plans to rebuild Meagher Park on Chebucto Road, with a deadline to clear the park by July 17. 

The park has served as a refuge for homeless people after municipal workers and police removed some tents and sheds from public spaces in August 2021. 

Continuing concern

Tress says on her morning dog walk in May in the Dartmouth Commons, she saw a woman roused by police and told to move on. 

"It was 8 a.m. There was no garbage around. There was no conflict happening. There were no people around except me. And yet the police came and asked her to take her tent out immediately," she said. 

She said officers stood "four feet away staring directly at her," while she packed her belongings, and wouldn't stand back when Tress asked them to. 

"While these particular police officers were not using any language or angry tones, I still think that this interaction was really degrading and deeply harmful," she said. 

Tress asked the board to create new rules to limit the actions of police. 

"I'd like the Board of Police Commissioners to make a formal policy instructing police not to be the primary interveners when the city needs to interact with unhoused people," she said. 

Police only deal with crime, chief says

Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella says that's already the case, as police are not interacting with homeless people unless there's an emergency or crime. 

"Currently we are not attending any encampment calls as a first responder unless we get a call that either relates to criminality, or call for assistance to keep the peace or help with public safety," Kinsella said. 

"We're not looking to take anyone out of a park, and not to even to issue a warning to anyone."

The chief says he'd like to hear more about policies in other municipalities. "Wherever the homeless challenge is, these conversations are occurring. So a jurisdictional scan will most definitely be of assistance," he said.

Commissioner Harry Critchley says he's not sure if a policy on police interactions with such people will be needed, which is why he believes the board needs more information. 

"The board in oversight capacity needs to ensure that we're aware of the policy and guidance being provided," he said. 

Critchley also raised Charter of Rights and Freedoms precedents from other provinces that blocked removing homeless people from public spaces when there were not enough shelter beds or housing to receive them.

"It breaches section seven charter rights of individuals living in parks to remove those individuals from parks where there's not otherwise an accessible place for them to go," he said. 

Halifax's solicitor John Traves said it's the responsibility of city staff to determine if any removals are legal.

He said alternate camping spots are prepared in other parks that could accommodate the four remaining residents of Meagher Park. 

The board voted to ask both HRP and the RCMP to prepare staff reports on its policies and instructions to officers regarding displacing homeless people from public spaces. 

The board also asked to be briefed ahead of time about any plans to clear Meagher Park on the July 17 deadline. 

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