Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella says he will retire next week – Halifax

Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella will retire next week, after four years in the role and amid controversy over his leadership.

The announcement was to be made official at the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Wednesday.

In a statement, Kinsella said it had been “an honor and a privilege” to have served as chief and that his greatest thanks went to the members of HRP whose professionalism and dedication I witnessed with the greatest pride. and gratitude.

There appears to be growing tension between Kinsella and the officers.

Last fall, unionized Halifax Regional Police officers said they had no confidence in his leadership.

The Halifax Regional Police Association (HRPA) said at the time that 83.7 percent of its members took part in the vote and 96.6 percent of them indicated that they did not had no confidence in his ability to lead.

The union president, Sgt. Dean Steinburg told PKBNEWS that the decision to hold a vote was not taken lightly, but that members wanted to express their “frustration with the current leadership”.

“It’s unprecedented. We’ve never done that in the history of the police department,” Steinburg said in an Oct. 18, 2022, interview, four days after union members were notified of the vote.

Among the concerns, according to the notice, were a lack of agent support, lack of resources, “ineffective recruitment strategies” and a staffing crisis.

In a statement at the time, Kinsella said the force was going through a period of “unprecedented challenges facing police departments,” similar to challenges faced by other police departments across the country. He said he knew there was work to be done regarding member morale and officer engagement.

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