A Nova Scotia man has removed equipment, including a push bar, from his off-duty police vehicle after the RCMP received a complaint about the car.
On May 27, the RCMP received a report of a police car being driven in Annapolis County.
Police say the vehicle had a push bar on the front and “police interceptor” marks on the back.
RCMP investigators met with the owner and told him that the items were banned under Nova Scotia’s new Police Identity Management Act.
Cpl of the RCMP. Chris Marshall tells CTV News that the Ford Taurus was, in fact, an out-of-service police vehicle, which the man had bought and brought from Ontario.
Marshall says the car was not an RCMP vehicle, but he is not sure which police force it came from.
The RCMP told the man he would be charged if he did not remove police equipment from the car.
Police say the man went to the Bridgetown RCMP detachment on June 2 and handed over the push bar and police interceptor badge, which will be destroyed by the RCMP.
Marshall says the owner was “very cooperative” with police, is now free to drive the vehicle and will not face charges.
POLICE IDENTITY MANAGEMENT LAW
This is the first time the Nova Scotia RCMP has used the province’s new Police Identity Management Act, which came into force on 12 May.
The legislation, which was first introduced in the provincial legislature in March 2021, is the first of its kind in Canada.
It was already a federal offense to impersonate a police officer, but the Nova Scotia Police Identity Management Act makes it illegal to sell or possess police-issued items such as uniforms, badges and patches.
Only officers on duty or persons with police authority are now allowed to have such items.
The law also prohibits the sale and possession of police vehicle equipment, such as stickers, police radios and computers, and light bars.
By law, Nova Scotia law enforcement agencies must remove excess equipment and remove all equipment and marks from police vehicles out of service.
Anyone else is asked to hand over the items to the local police department or make them unusable.
By law, the only places where this equipment can be used outside of law enforcement are in museums or as part of a “play,” such as a movie set.
Penalties include fines of up to $ 10,000 or three months in prison for human beings. A corporation could face a maximum fine of $ 25,000.
SHOT MASSION FROM NEW SCOTLAND
The complaint about the abandoned police vehicle comes at a time when an investigation is investigating the mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
The Police Identity Management Act was created in direct response to the mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 Nova Scotians in April 2020.
The gunman was driving a fully marked replica of the RCMP car, which he created from an out-of-service police vehicle purchased at auction. He also bought a number of surplus police items online.
At the time, it was not illegal for Gabriel Wortman to own these items. Now, under the law, ownership of police items can be reported to the authorities and charges can be filed.
The families of its 22 victims have said the law should be enforced nationwide.