Truro police marching in parade
Amidst controversy officers welcome the opportunity
While other law enforcement agencies are backing off, Truro Police Service personnel have confirmed they are participating in the upcoming Pride Parade.
The event will be held Saturday, July 29, and Truro police say they are pleased to be invited to join once again.
“We’re very happy to get an invitation,” said Insp. Rob Hearn of the Truro Police Service.
“We are going to have uniformed officers marching in the parade, but we are also going to be handling policing of the event to ensure safety. We’ve partnered with the volunteer fire department in Truro to assist in traffic control to ensure the event goes off as safely as possible.”
Being a part of the parade is not about the police representing themselves, but is more about representing their connection and respect to the community.
“What it comes down to is community involvement,” said Hearn. “Anytime we get the opportunity to participate in something like this, we do. We’re heavily involved in many community groups and activities because we are just as much part of this community as anyone else. It’s a great event, and we just want to enjoy it with everyone.”
While police in Truro are welcomed to the parade with open arms, the story is different in other areas.
The Halifax Regional Police recently announced they would not take part in the Halifax Pride Parade after members of the LGBTQ+ community raised concerns.
“Initially, we had been marching in the parade for a number of years,” said Const. Amit Parasram, equity and diversity officer with the HRM. “We spoke with Halifax Pride, and there was some expression by members of the community that the police being involved with the parade would take away from their ability to fully be who they are.”
After discussions between Pride and HRP, the department decided to involve themselves in a more helpful but less invasive manner.
“We decided there were other ways to support the festival while being respectful of the needs of those marginalized groups in the community,” said Parasram.
“We are still maintaining all the safety efforts of the festival, but we are also volunteering to help out at some of the events Pride is hosting during the week. Pride is not about us, and at the end of the day, our focus is to support the community the best way we can.”
While Halifax and Truro police can support the local festivals, the same cannot be said across the country.
During last year’s Pride Parade in Toronto, Black Lives Matter protesters brought the parade to a halt, demanding Pride representatives sign a list of their demands.
On the list was the exclusion of police and police floats from future Pride parades.
Pride Toronto announced in May police were allowed to join the parade, but no uniforms, weapons or police vehicles could be involved, sparking controversy between Toronto police and Pride Toronto.
Parasram and the HRM hope their decision will help people get past the controversy while also strengthening ties they have with the community.
“Our hope is this decision is going to help improve the relationship between the community and the HRP,” he said.
“By removing ourselves from the parade, we are able to be more engaged than ever. We are volunteering to help set up events hosted by Pride during the week, and will have members attending some of the educational events held by Pride as well.”
In Truro, police are happy to continue supporting the community and be part of the festival.
“Last year, we posted a lot of pictures on our FB page, and all the comments were very positive,” said Hearn.
“I anticipate this year will be bigger than last year, and we will again be posting to our Facebook page while celebrating with everyone that day, too.” Truro police were front and centre during the 2016 Pride Parade and they will be back again this year to take part in festivities and ensure everyone’s safety.