Halifax City Hall installing metal detector, X-ray machine

Halifax City Hall is adding new security measures with a walk-through metal detector and an airport-style baggage X-ray machine.

Halifax City Hall is enhancing its security measures with a walk-through metal detector and an airport-style baggage X-ray machine.

The Halifax Regional Municipality says the machines will be installed at the front doors of the building and will be operational on Monday.

“We’ve done this to improve the safety of everyone at city hall including staff and members of the public,” said Blair Digou, manager of corporate security at the municipality.

Digou said the city is currently on a two-year security improvement program and this step was one of the recommendations that came out of the assessment on the facility.

Visitors will be required to place any bags and loose personal items in a bin for X-ray screenings before they walk through the metal detector.

“Anyone who comes to city hall will have to go through the screening process to enter the building. They will also have to bring a valid form of I.D.,” said Digou. “It’s more about protecting the public who are using this building. This is their building, and we want them to be safe here.”

CTV public safety analyst Chris Lewis said the changes are a sign of the time.

“Times have changed. Ultimately, we used to be able to go into the parliament buildings in Ottawa or the legislature in Ontario and walk around and look at things, but we can’t anymore as a result of changing climate in terms of violent crime, terrorism and a variety of different issues. So, this is just another municipality getting on the same security kind of platform to make sure the people of the municipality, employees and officials are protected from people out there who might want to do something bad,” he said.

“We want to make sure the people that visit city hall and the people that work at city hall are safe at all times. I think this is a sensible precaution. It lines up well with what the provincial government has in place at province house and people can have a consistently safe experience at province house or city hall now. I think it’s a good idea,” said Halifax Mayor Andy Filmore.

“These efforts aim to increase safety for employees in the building, as well as the many public visitors that attend Regional Council meetings or other meetings and events,” the municipality said in a news release. “These measures align with practices being taken in similar facilities within Nova Scotia, such as Province House, as well as other municipalities like the City of Ottawa.”

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