ABSTRACT
Although the city of Halifax has been policed since its founding in 1749, rst by naval shore patrols and then by Day and Night Watches, it was not until 1864 that the Halifax Police Department was formed as an ocial entity in this bustling port city. Sister city Dartmouth formed its own police force in 1874, as did neighboring town, Bedford, more than 100 years later in 1982. In 1996, all of the villages and communities of the former Halifax County, then policed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), were amalgamated with Halifax, Dartmouth, and Bedford to form Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), all situated on the eastern coast of mainland Canada. e entire municipality of nearly 400,000 people is now policed by a joint force of about 500 Halifax Regional Police (HRP) ocers and about 200 members of the RCMP, making it the only integrated police force in Canada. e commanding ocer of the RCMP contingent is currently Chief Superintendent Lee Bergerman, whose oce is directly adjacent to Chief Constable Jean-Michel Blais.
