Halifax's newest four-legged officer is now called Duty Sergeant — Sarge to his friends.

The black horse with the white nose was renamed through a contest sponsored by Halifax Regional Police and CBC News.

Const. Chris Marinelli jokes that Duty Sergeant outranks him.
(Jack Julian/CBC)

"I think it suits him," said Const. Chris Marinelli, adding "Sergeant" commands respect, "and he'll be on duty this summer."

Two Grade 4 students came up with the name, which was chosen out of dozens of entries.

Previously known as Rio, Sarge was born six years ago on an industrial farm in Western Canada, where hormones are harvested from the urine of pregnant mares.

Marinelli says normally male foals from these farms are slaughtered for meat, so Sarge was lucky to end up in Atlantic Canada.

He landed his job as a police horse partly because of his good looks and the fact he's calm and friendly.

Duty Sergeant will be sworn in on Canada Day.

After that, he and Marinelli will begin their official duties, appearing at events around Halifax and sometimes issuing parking tickets.

Marinelli jokes that his equine partner outranks him.

"I'm going to take some heat at work, I guess," he said with a laugh.

Sarge replaces Justice the Protector, who will retire to a farm in the Annapolis Valley.