Halifax RCMP cancels Fall River office plans, some councillors unhappy

Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon helped RCMP officers look at sites for a community office in Fall River as part of a plan to improve police visibility in communities across the Halifax Regional Municipality. 

The RCMP’s Halifax Regional Detachment hired two units of six officers last year to serve Fall River and the Beechville, Lakeside and Timberlea area, with plans for satellite offices in those communities. More officers and another office were planned for Eastern Passage. 

But Monday, during a special Board of Police Commissioners meeting, RCMP members said they’d come to the internal decision to scrap the community office in Fall River and abandon a plan that could’ve seen six officers hired in Eastern Passage due to costs. 

The RCMP told the board they’re still looking for an office in the Timberlea area as part of a pilot project. 

Although Deagle Gammon is not on the police board, she attended Monday’s meeting and said she was shocked to learn of the RCMP’s decision not to pursue a community office in Fall River, which is part of her district. 

She said she’s very disappointed by the RCMP’s decision and that the idea of a pilot for the Timberlea area was not what had been agreed to. 

“I was thinking they just hadn’t found a site,” she told The Chronicle Herald. 

“It’s a bit devastating, really, and it puts a crack in the armour of trust I had with the RCMP. It’s very, very disappointing, and it’s very important our community knows that we’re going to advocate and I’ll be doing everything I can to come back to the original commitment that was made to our community.” 

Deagle Gammon isn’t the only person upset by the RCMP’s decision; several members of the police board also shared their displeasure. 

Becky Kent, who is the board’s vice-chair and a councillor for District 3, which includes Eastern Passage, argued the RCMP’s decision went against their commitment to community policing. 

“This just feels unacceptable,” she said during the meeting. 

A spokesperson for the RCMP said a new provincial billing model and improved technology for squad cars led the service to make the internal decision to change the satellite office plans. 

“Our proactive numbers are going up and our Criminal Code calls for service are going down in all three communities,” Meaghan Stewart, director of administration and personal, told the board. 

“But, as you said, there was a community desire for this, hence why we’re going ahead with a pilot in the one community for now, (we’ll) come back and re-evaluate.” 

But Deagle Gammon said the RCMP needs to deliver on what was promised, which is a physical presence in communities.

“They need to go back and revisit the commitment that was made to the community, the commitment that was made to council, and they need to find a solution.” 

That does not include a pilot of any sort. 

“From the very beginning two years ago, when council approved the positions, the word pilot had never been used,” Deagle Gammon said.