February 9, 2015: Halifax Regional Police held a ceremony at Dartmouth’s Alderney Landing Theatre on Monday to welcome 17 new officers, who received their badges and pledged to serve the community.
Most of the new recruits — 13 men and four women — are fresh out of the Atlantic Police Academy in Summerside, P.E.I., but some come to Halifax from other police agencies in Canada.
Chief J.M. Blais praised the diversity of the new officers and noted that 10 have undergraduate degrees in such things as biblical studies, architecture and computer science.
He praised their volunteer service for agencies including Phoenix Youth Centre, Shelter Nova Scotia, IWK Health Centre, the Alzheimer Society, Habitat for Humanity and Citizens on Patrol.
“Their outside appearances do not do justice to demonstrate the diversity of thoughts, views and experiences they have as individuals,” he said to an audience of about 70. “We are proud to count you amongst us as we serve together.”
In an interview after the ceremony, Blais said the force had to make a small policy change to accommodate one incoming officer.
“The policy is in regards to the wearing of the turban and the type of colours, the fabric,” he said.
One new officer, 29-year-old Chetranjan Jass, is Sikh and will be the first turban-wearing officer with Halifax Regional Police.
The Brampton-born Jass, whose wife is from Truro, worked with the Toronto Police Service for six years. He sent his new employers a copy of the Toronto uniform policy, which was adapted for situations like his.
Jass doesn’t expect his day-to-day work experience to change in his new locale.
“It’s just differences in volume,” he said. “It’s similar to wherever you go in North America. It’s just that Toronto is a higher volume of it, due to population levels.”
Asked if he felt like a trailblazer as the force’s first Sikh, he said, “I’m not too sure about that, to be honest with you.”
“My wife drew me here and I fell in love with the place. My experience here has been wonderful and welcoming,”
At 31, Nevin Doncaster is one of the older rookies.
He’s from Sackville, N.B., has a bachelor of arts in biblical studies and theology and earned a black belt in taekwondo as a high-schooler.
Doncaster got involved with at-risk youth programs and has worked full-time for a number of years at Halifax’s Salvation Army Centre of Hope and Souls Harbour Rescue Mission.
“I’ve always asked why did I get into policing so late; it’s been on my mind since I was a kid,” he said. “I would say I really wanted to discover who I was as a person and my faith was important for that.”
He’d like to find his way into detective work eventually.
Doncaster said his use-of-force training at police academy didn’t give him much chance to tap into his taekwondo.
“It’s not the reality,” he said. “You’re not going to be doing super-flying kicks.”
With these new members, Halifax Regional Police goes to a complement of 512 sworn officers, of whom 99 are women. Halifax RCMP has 206 full-time officers.