The police department is also proposing to look at using video cameras in public areas to try to enhance public safety, the meeting was told. Police intend to study the issue before setting up any street surveillance.

Chief Frank Beazley said that under the municipality’s proposed budget, eight officers would be assigned to patrol Dartmouth’s north end, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, either on foot or bicycles.

North-end Dartmouth is an area where enduring social problems have led to crime. "The purpose of putting the (proposed patrol) in there was based on crime analysis," Chief Beazley told regional council at Halifax city hall. "It was the area that needed the resources."

Chief Beazley said the foot/bike officers will be accessible to teens and other young people in the neighbourhood.

"We want to get in there and work with the young people the same way we have in the uptown and in the central district," he said. The chief said the department needs to "get the police officers back on either foot or bicycle patrol interacting with the community . . . to help the community solve the community’s problems."

The new patrol is part of the department’s proposed $52.3 million in gross expenditures that were discussed at council’s first day of budget deliberations.

The city’s 2006-07 budget includes $628 million in planned operating expenses and $73.5 million in proposed capital spending. A 5.1 per cent reduction in the property tax rate was been factored into the operating budget. Council won’t set the tax rate until its money talks have concluded.

Chief Beazley also told council that examining the use of video tracking of activity in public places in Halifax Regional Municipality should go a long way in preventing crimes or solving them if they take place. He said other jurisdictions, such as London, England, have cameras recording the movement of pedestrians and traffic.

The police department also wants two new forensic experts, to hire a couple of clerks to process summary offence tickets and "replace retiring staff with professionally trained people to maintain safety with succession planning," HRM’s budget document says.

Wednesday’s appearance by Chief Beazley prompted a few regional councillors to publicly praise the efforts of local police. While no one questioned the quality of service, it was the chief himself who raised controversial issues from the past.

He made reference to the well-publicized Kirk Johnson case, a racial profiling incident involving the black boxer and a white police officer, and alluded to a 2005 crime report by Statistics Canada that showed Halifax is the most violent city per capita in Canada.

Coun. Steve Streatch (Eastern Shore-Musquodoboit Valley) told the budget meeting he doesn’t believe the survey is at all accurate.

"We all know that this is not the crime capital of Canada," he said.

Today’s budget meeting is scheduled to include a review of transportation and public works, library services and environmental management.

( mlightstone@herald.ca)