No Charges in Halifax Police Pursuit

An investigation by the province's Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) has concluded there are no grounds for charges against a Halifax Regional Police (HRP) officer who pursued a motor vehicle on September 9, 2013.

AT 3:02 a.m. the officer was monitoring traffic on Bayers Road, and saw a car fail to stop at two red lights. He followed the vehicle from Bayers to Robie St., where the vehicle sped up in an attempt to escape. The pursuit continued onto Almon St. but was soon discontinued due to the high speeds. The officer then lost sight of the vehicle.

The car continued on Almon, and eventually left the road at the intersection with George Dauphinee Avenue, crashing into a house.  The driver was seriously injured, and taken to hospital. A civilian witness called 911, and she and the officer, who came to the scene, observed signs of alcohol consumption from the driver.

While the officer did reach speeds near 100 km/h during the pursuit, GPS tracking showed it was only for 40 to 45 seconds. The officer properly balanced the need to apprehend the offender with public safety concerns by discontinuing the pursuit when he did.  As a result there are no grounds to consider charges in the matter.

The full report is available at http://sirt.novascotia.ca .

SIRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia. Investigations are under the direction and control of independent civilian director Ron MacDonald, who has the sole authority to determine if charges should be laid after the conclusion of an investigation.

Media Contact:

               Ron MacDonald
               Serious Incident Response Team
               902-424-8400
               Cell: 902-718-9707
               E-mail: macdonrj@gov.ns.ca