Halifax appoints first Black police chief

Don MacLean will soon be the acting chief of the Halifax Regional Police, following the announcement earlier this month that outgoing police Chief Dan Kinsella is retiring. 

On Tuesday, the Halifax Regional Municipality issued a release announcing that council has approved a recommendation by the Board of Police Commissioners to appoint MacLean as the acting chief. He will take over Kinsella's position on Sept. 16.

When MacLean assumes the post, he will become the first Black police chief in the force's history.

According to the municipality, MacLean has been a police officer since 1993, and has held the position of deputy chief of operations since 2020.

The news comes a day after CBC News reported that some members of Halifax's African Nova Scotian community do not believe a change in police leadership will make much of a difference in repairing their relationship with the force.

MacLean currently serves as the co-chair for the Wortley Report Research Committee, which includes community stakeholders and partners looking to "address bias and systematic racism in policing," said the municipality.

The Wortley Report, released in 2019, found that among other things, Black people were more than six times more likely to be street checked than white people. 

The municipality says a search for the next chief of police will begin this fall.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

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