Police get direct access to emergency alert system

Nova Scotia has changed the rules for how emergency alerts are issued to the public, over a year after police were criticized for not alerting the public sooner when a mass shooter was at large in central Nova Scotia.

In a news release Thursday, the provincial Department of Municipal Affairs and Emergency Management Office said two police services — Nova Scotia RCMP and Halifax Regional Police — now have direct access to the provincial Alert Ready System.

The decision followed a collaborative review on effective use of the system carried out by senior officials from the province and police.

"Protecting the public is serious and difficult work, and we know that in certain situations alerts are one of the tools that can help to do that,” said Brendan Maguire, minister responsible for the Emergency Management Office.

Direct access to the service allows police to issue alerts without help from the EMO.

Both police forces can now send alerts when they think there is an immediate threat to the public, the release said.

The option for other police services to use the alerts is also available, it said.

In April 2020, RCMP were mainly using social media to communicate with the public during a killing spree that ended with the loss of 21 adults, a teenage girl and an unborn child.

“Police across Nova Scotia are pleased to have the ability to seamlessly alert the public to major events occurring in their community and that, very importantly to all Nova Scotians, we have established consistent criteria to issue an alert,” said Chief Julia Cecchetto, president of the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association.

The EMO will still issue public alerts for non-police matters such as flooding and forest fires.

Between April 2020 and July 2021, 12 alerts were issued for events — of which nine were police-related.