Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Overview
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) ( (GRC), literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie
of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police
force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. The RCMP provides policing services to all of Canada at a federal level, and also on a contract basis to the three territories, eight of Canada's provinces (the RCMP does not provide provincial or municipal policing in either Ontario or Quebec), more than 190 municipalities, 184 aboriginal communities, and three international airports.
The RCMP was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, founded 1873) with the Dominion Police
(founded 1868).
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. The RCMP provides policing services to all of Canada at a federal level, and also on a contract basis to the three territories, eight of Canada's provinces (the RCMP does not provide provincial or municipal policing in either Ontario or Quebec), more than 190 municipalities, 184 aboriginal communities, and three international airports.
The RCMP was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, founded 1873) with the Dominion Police
Dominion Police
In 1868 the Dominion Police began as a police force protecting the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and by 1911 it served as Canada's eastern police force .In May 1918, the 969...
(founded 1868).
Unanswered Questions
Encyclopedia
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) ( (GRC), literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie
of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police
force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. The RCMP provides policing services to all of Canada at a federal level, and also on a contract basis to the three territories, eight of Canada's provinces (the RCMP does not provide provincial or municipal policing in either Ontario or Quebec), more than 190 municipalities, 184 aboriginal communities, and three international airports.
The RCMP was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, founded 1873) with the Dominion Police
(founded 1868). The former was originally named the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), and was given the Royal prefix by King Edward VII
in 1904. Much of the present-day organization's symbolism has been inherited from its days as the NWMP, including the distinctive Red Serge
uniform, paramilitary heritage, and mythos as a frontier force. The RCMP/GRC wording is specifically protected under the Trade-marks Act.
As the national police force of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is primarily responsible for enforcing federal laws throughout Canada, while general law and order including the enforcement of the Criminal Code and applicable provincial legislation is constitutionally the responsibility of the provinces and territories
. This responsibility is sometimes further delegated to municipalities which can form their own municipal police departments. This is common in the largest cities.
The two most populous provinces, Ontario
and Quebec
, maintain their own provincial forces; the Ontario Provincial Police
and Sûreté du Québec
. The other eight provinces, however, have chosen to contract most or all of their provincial policing responsibilities to the RCMP. Under these contracts the RCMP provides front-line policing in those provinces under the direction of the provincial governments in regard to provincial and municipal law enforcement. When Newfoundland joined the confederation in 1949, the RCMP entered the province and absorbed the then Newfoundland Rangers and took over responsibilities in that area. Today the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
has reclaimed some of that province to their jurisdiction. In the three territories, the RCMP serves as the sole territorial police force
. Additionally, many municipalities throughout Canada contract the RCMP to serve as their police force. The RCMP consequently provides policing services at the federal, provincial and municipal level.
The RCMP is responsible for an unusually large breadth of duties. Under their federal mandate, the RCMP provides policing throughout Canada, including Ontario and Quebec (albeit under smaller scales there). Federal operations include: enforcing federal laws including commercial crime, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, border integrity, organized crime and other related matters; providing counter-terrorism and domestic security; providing protection services
for the Monarch, Governor General
, Prime Minister
, their families and residences, and other ministers of the Crown
, visiting dignitaries, and diplomatic missions; and participating in various international policing efforts. Under provincial and municipal contracts the RCMP provides front-line policing in all areas outside of Ontario and Quebec that do not have an established local police force. There are detachments located in small villages in the far north, remote First Nations reserves, and rural towns, but also larger cities such as Surrey, BC
(population 394,976). In these provinces the RCMP maintains units that provide investigational support to their own detachments, as well as smaller municipal police forces, including the investigation of major crimes such as homicides, forensic identification services, police dog services, emergency response teams, explosives disposal, undercover operations, and others. Under its National Police Services branch the RCMP provides support to all police forces in Canada through the operation of support services such as the Canadian Police Information Centre
, the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
, Forensic Science and Identification Services, the Canadian Firearms Program and the Canadian Police College.
The RCMP Security Service
was a specialized political intelligence and counterintelligence branch with national security responsibilities, but was replaced with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
in 1984, following revelations of illegal covert operation
s relating to the Quebec separatist movement
. CSIS is not part of the RCMP, but is its own entity.
Duties, conduct and operational and reporting guidelines are very specifically laid out in a detailed document known as the Commissioner's Standing Orders, or CSOs.
the first territorial government of the Northwest Territories
. The Act was approved by the Government of Canada and established on May 23, 1873, by Queen Victoria
, on the advice of her Canadian Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald
, with the intent of bringing law and order to, and asserting sovereignty over, the Northwest Territories
. The need was particularly urgent given reports of American whiskey traders, in particular those of Fort Whoop-Up
, causing trouble in the region, culminating in the Cypress Hills Massacre
. The new force was initially to be called the North West Mounted Rifles, but this proposal was rejected as sounding too militaristic in nature, which Macdonald feared would antagonize both aboriginals and Americans; however, the force was organized along the lines of a cavalry
regiment
in the British Army
, and was to wear red uniforms.
The NWMP was modelled directly on the Royal Irish Constabulary
, a civilian paramilitary
armed police force with both mounted and foot elements under the authority of what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
. First NWMP commissioner, Colonel George Arthur French visited Ireland to learn its methods.
The initial force, commanded by Commissioner French, was assembled at Fort Dufferin, Manitoba
. They departed on July 8, 1874, on a march to what is now Alberta
.
The group comprised 22 officers, 287 men called constables and sub-constables 310 horses, 67 wagons, 114 ox-carts, 18 yoke of oxen, 50 cows and 40 calves. A pictorial account of the journey was recorded in the diary of Henri Julien
, an artist from the Canadian Illustrated News
, who accompanied the expedition.
Their destination was Fort Whoop-Up, a notorious whiskey trading post located at the junction of the Belly
and Oldman River
s. Upon arrival at Whoop-Up and finding it abandoned the troop continued a few miles west and established headquarters on an island in the Oldman, naming it Fort MacLeod.
Historians have theorized that failure of the 1874 March West would not have completely ended the Canadian federal government's vision of settling the country's western plains, but could have delayed it for many years. It could also have encouraged the Canadian Pacific Railway
to seek a more northerly route for its transcontinental railway that went through the well-mapped and partially settled valley of the North Saskatchewan River
, touching on Prince Albert
, Battleford and Edmonton
, and through the Yellowhead Pass
, as originally proposed by Sandford Fleming
. This would have offered no economic justification for the existence of cities like Brandon
, Regina
, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, and Calgary
, which could, in turn, have tempted American expansionists to make a play for the flat, empty southern regions of the Canadian prairie
s.
The NWMP's early activities included containing the whiskey trade and enforcing agreements with the First Nations peoples; to that end, the commanding officer
of the force arranged to be sworn in as a justice of the peace
, which allowed for magisterial authority within the Mounties' jurisdiction. In the early years, the force's dedication to enforcing the law on behalf of the First Nations peoples impressed the latter enough to encourage good relations between them and the Crown. In the summer of 1876, Sitting Bull
and thousands of Sioux
fled from the US Army towards what is now southern Saskatchewan
, and James Morrow Walsh
of the NWMP was charged with maintaining control in the large Sioux settlement at Wood Mountain. Walsh and Sitting Bull became good friends, and the peace at Wood Mountain was maintained. In 1885, the NWMP helped to quell the North-West Rebellion
led by Louis Riel
. They suffered particularly heavy losses during the Battle of Duck Lake
, but saw little other active combat.
In 1896, concerned about the influence of American miners and the ongoing liquor trade, the Canadian government
sent inspector Charles Constantine
to report on conditions in the Yukon
. Constantine correctly forecast a coming gold rush
and urgently recommended sending a force to secure Canadian sovereignty there and collect customs duties; he returned the following year with a force of 20 men. Under the command of Constantine, and his successor in 1898, the more famous Sam Steele
, the NWMP distinguished itself during the Klondike Gold Rush
, which started in 1896, making it one of the most peaceful and orderly such affairs in history. The NWMP not only enforced criminal law, but also collected customs duties, established a number of rules such as the "ton of goods" requirement for prospectors to enter the Yukon to avoid another famine, mandatory boat inspections for those wanting to travel the Yukon River
, and created the Blue Ticket used to expel undesirables from the Klondike. The Mounties did tolerate certain illegal activities, such as gambling
and prostitution
, and the force did not succeed in its attempt to establish order and Canadian sovereignty in Skagway, Alaska
, at the head of the Lynn Canal
, instead creating the customs post at the summit of the Chilkoot Pass
. At that same time, the dissolution of the NWMP was being discussed in the House of Commons
, but the gold rush prospectors were so impressed by the conduct of the Mounted Police that the force became world famous and its continuation was ensured.
coast, with the establishment of a post at Cape Fullerton
. In June 1904, the prefix "Royal" was conferred on the NWMP by King Edward VII. Jurisdiction was extended to the new provinces of Alberta
and Saskatchewan
in 1905, and to Manitoba
's new annexation in 1912. During World War I
the RNWMP was responsible for "border patrols, surveillance of enemy aliens, and enforcement of national security regulations". In 1917, provincial policing contracts were terminated, and the RNWMP was responsible only for federal policing in Alberta
, Saskatchewan
, and the Territories. Come 1918, however, enforcement was once again extended to all four Western Provinces (British Columbia
, Alberta
, Saskatchewan
, and Manitoba
). A squadron was deployed to Vladivostok, Russia in late 1918 as part of the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force
. Six months later, in June 1919, the RNWMP was called in to repress the general strike
in Manitoba's capital, Winnipeg
, where officers fired into a crowd of strikers, killing two and causing injury to thirty others. Another strike of that scale was never seen again, but clashes between the RNWMP and strikers continued; Mounties killed three strikers in 1931, when striking coal miners from Bienfait, Saskatchewan
demonstrated
in nearby Estevan. These incidents did not help the image of the RNWMP, which, since the end of First World War
, was being looked at as an outdated institution, more suited to the 19th century frontier than with an industrialising 20th century Canada.
Aylesworth Perry
served as Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police from 1900 to 1922. It was in this period that the force was faced, again, with dissolution, but was saved in 1920 when it merged with the Dominion Police
and was renamed as the "Royal Canadian Mounted Police". The new organization was charged with federal law enforcement in all the provinces and territories, and immediately set about establishing its modern role as protector of Canadian national security, as well as assuming responsibility for national counterintelligence.
As part of its national security and intelligence functions, the RCMP was responsible for infiltrating any ethnic or political groups that were considered to be dangerous to Canada's existing order. This included the Communist Party of Canada
, but also a variety of minority cultural and nationalist groups. The force was also deeply involved in immigration matters, and especially deportations of suspected radicals. They were especially concerned with Ukrainian groups, both nationalist and socialist. The Chinese community
was also targeted because the perceived link to opium dens. Historians estimate that fully two per cent of the Chinese community was deported between 1923 and 1932, largely under the provisions of the Opium and Narcotics Drugs Act (ONDA). Besides the RCMP's new responsibilities in intelligence, drugs enforcement, and immigration, the force also provided assistance to numerous other federal agencies, such as enforcing the residential school system for First Nations' children.
In 1935, the RCMP, collaborating with the Regina Police Service
, crushed the On-to-Ottawa Trek
by sparking the Regina Riot, in which one city police officer and one protester were killed. The Trek, which had been organized to call attention to the abysmal conditions in the relief camps, therefore failed to reach Ottawa, but nevertheless had profound political reverberations.
The RCMP employed special constable
s to assist with strikebreaking in the interwar period. For a brief period in the late 1930s, a volunteer militia group, the Legion of Frontiersmen
were affiliated with the RCMP. Many members of the RCMP belonged to this organization, which was prepared to serve as an auxiliary force. In later years, special constables performed duties such as policing airports and, in certain Canadian provinces, the court houses.
In 1932, men and vessels of the Preventive Service, National Revenue, were absorbed, creating the RCMP Marine Section. The acquisition of the RCMP schooner
St. Roch facilitated the first effective patrol of Canada's Arctic territory. It was the first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage
from west to east (1940–42), the first to navigate the Passage in one season (from Halifax to Vancouver in 1944), the first to sail either way through the Passage in one season, and the first to circumnavigate North America (1950).
Counterintelligence work was moved from the RCMP's Criminal Investigation Department
to a specialized intelligence branch, the RCMP Security Service
, in 1939.
amalgamated with the RCMP.
Following the 1945 defection of Soviet
cipher clerk, Igor Gouzenko
and his revelations of espionage, the RCMP Security Service
implemented measures to screen out “subversive” elements from the public sector.
Queen Elizabeth II approved in Regina, Saskatchewan
on July 4, 1973 a new badge for the RCMP, in recognition of which the force presented the sovereign with a tapestry rendering of the new design.
In the late 1970s, revelations surfaced that the RCMP Security Service force had in the course of their intelligence duties engaged in crimes such as burning a barn and stealing documents from the separatist Parti Québécois
, and other abuses. This led to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP
, better known as the "McDonald Commission," named for the presiding judge, Mr Justice David Cargill McDonald. The Commission recommended that the force's intelligences duties be removed in favor of the creation of a separate intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
(CSIS).
In 1993, the Special Emergency Response Team
(SERT), were transferred to the Canadian Forces
, creating a new unit called Joint Task Force Two (JTF2). JTF2 inherited some equipment and SERT's former training base near Ottawa
.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been involved in training and logistically supporting the Haitian National Police since 1994, a controversial matter in Canada considering allegations of widespread human rights violations on the part of the HNP. Some Canadian activist groups have called for an end to the RCMP training. The RCMP has also provided training overseas in Iraq
and other peace-keeping missions.
The suspected driver of the reconnaissance vehicle involved in the Khobar Towers bombing
fled to Canada where he was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the winter of 1997, and was extradited to the United States.
On March 3, 2005, four RCMP officers were fatally shot during an operation to recover stolen property and investigate a possible marijuana
grow-op and serve an arrest warrant just outside of Mayerthrope, Alberta. Shooter James Roszko, 46, then killed himself. It was the single worst multiple killing of RCMP officers since the Northwest Rebellion. One of the four Mounties killed had been on the job for only 17 days. The victims were:
On October 29, 2005, constable Paul Koester shot and killed Ian Bush
while he was in custody. An internal investigation resulted in no action being taken against the constable, and, as a result, a public inquest was commissioned. The inquest recommended that the RCMP refrain from carrying out internal investigations with regard to fatal incidents involving the RCMP and the public.
On July 7, 2006, two RCMP officers were shot to death near Mildred, Saskatchewan. The killer, Curtis Dagenais, 41, was missing until July 18, when he turned himself in. The victims were:
Dagenais was subsequently convicted of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder of a third Mountie who arrived shortly after the initial firefight.
In 2006, the United States Coast Guard
's Ninth District and the RCMP began a program called "Shiprider," in which 12 Mounties from the RCMP detachment at Windsor and 16 Coast Guard boarding officers from stations in Michigan ride in each other's vessels. The intent is to allow for seamless enforcement of the international border. (PA1 John Masson, "Territorial Teamwork," Coast Guard Magazine 2/2006, pp. 26–27).
On December 6, 2006, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli
resigned one day after informing the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security that his earlier testimony about the Maher Arar
case was inaccurate. The RCMP had improperly given information to the US that resulted in Arar, a Canadian returning to Montreal via the US, being sent to Syria where he was imprisoned for 10 months and tortured into signing a false confession of links to terrorists.
Earlier, on September 28, 2006, and before the same Commons committee, Commissioner Zaccardelli
had issued a carefully worded public apology to Arar and his family:
On January 26, 2007, after months of negotiations between the Canadian government and Arar's Canadian legal counsel, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology "for any role Canadian officials may have played in what happened to Mr. Arar, Monia Mazigh and their family in 2002 and 2003" and announced that Arar would receive $10.5 million settlement for his ordeal and an additional $1 million for legal costs.
On October 6, 2007, Constable Christopher John Worden of Hay River Detachment, Northwest Territories
was shot and killed in Hay River
while on duty in that community. A nationwide arrest warrant was issued for Emrah Bulatci. Bulatci was apprehended on October 12 in Edmonton, Alberta.
On October 14, 2007, Robert Dziekański, an emigrant from Poland, died at Vancouver International Airport
. Dziekański had failed to clear Customs and after eight hours of loitering became agitated, perhaps because he spoke no English and therefore was unable to ask for assistance. Four RCMP officers were summoned after he threw a computer and a small table. During his arrest, he was Taser
ed at least twice within 25 seconds of the officers' arrival. After dropping to the floor, he was held down and handcuffed by the officers. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The incident was videotaped and eventually released to the public, resulting in outrage over the RCMP's handling of the unarmed man. The Dziekanski confrontation has provoked considerable debate about the use of Tasers in policing.
On November 6, 2007, Constable Doug Scott, 20, was killed in Kimmirut, Nunavut
when responding to a report of a possible impaired driver. He had been with the service for only six months.
In 2007, the RCMP was named Newsmaker of the Year
by the Canadian Press
.
, referred to as "Review Order" (of dress uniform), consisting of: high collared scarlet
tunic, midnight blue
breeches
with yellow leg strip, Sam Browne belt
with shoulder cross strap and white sidearm lanyard, oxblood riding boots (possibly with spurs), brown felt Campaign hat
(wide, flat brimmed) with the characteristic "Montana crease", and brown gloves (with brown leather gauntlets for riders). Review Order is worn by the mounted troop performing the Musical Ride
, an equestrian drill in which mounted members demonstrate their riding skills and handling of the cavalry lance. On normal duties, the RCMP uses standard police methods, equipment, and uniforms. Horses are still used for such ceremonial operations as escorting the Governor General's open landau
to the Opening of Parliament.
The Red Serge tunic that identified initially the NWMP, and later the RNWMP and RCMP, is of the standard British military pattern. The NWMP was originally kitted out from militia
stores, resulting initially in several different styles of tunic, although the style later became standardized. This style was used both to emphasize the British nature of the force and to differentiate it from the blue American military uniforms. The blue shoulder epaulets were added in the 1920s, long after King Edward VII granted the Force "Royal" status for its service in the Second Boer War
, replacing gold-trimmed scarlet straps from the earlier uniforms. Currently, RCMP personnel under the rank of inspector wear blue "gorget" patches on the collar, while officers from inspector to commissioner have solid blue collars, along with blue pointed-sleeve cuffs.
Initially the NWMP wore buff
breeches. Later dark blue breeches with yellow-gold strapping (stripes) were adopted. Members of the NWMP were known to exchange kit with U.S. cavalry units along the border and it is suggested that this was the initial source for the breeches; however, blue breeches were considered early on, although with a white strap. Dark blue with yellow-gold strapping is another British cavalry tradition.
The wide, flat-brimmed Stetson
hat was not adopted officially until about 1904. Although the NWMP contingent at Queen Victoria
's Diamond Jubilee
wore the Stetson, it was an unofficial item of dress. The primary official summer headdress at the time was the white British foreign service helmet, also known as a pith helmet
. This was not particularly practical as headdress in the Canadian west, and members wore a Stetson type hat on patrol and around camp. Sam Steele
is often credited with introducing the Stetson-type hat, and when he left the force to command Strathcona's Horse and took the regiment to South Africa he also adopted the Stetson for this unit. For winter a Canadian military fur wedge cap
or busby
was worn.
Black riding boots were later changed to the modern brown style. The original crossbelts were later changed to the brown Sam Browne
type currently worn. The brown colour of the boots and belt worn with the Red Serge come from the individual member applying numerous coats of polish, often during their time in training at Depot Division.
Sidearms are standard now, but were often not worn in the early years.
The everyday uniform consists of a grey shirt with dark blue tie, dark blue trousers with gold strapping, regular patrol boots called "ankle boots," regular duty equipment, and a regular policeman's style cap. A blue Gore-Tex
open-collar jacket (patrol jacket) is worn by members on operational duty, while a dark blue jacket (blue serge), is worn by sergeant majors and certain non-commissioned officer
s (NCOs) usually involved in aspects of recruit training or media relations. Officers wear white shirts and the patrol jacket or blue serge, depending on their duties. Short-sleeved shirts with no tie are worn in the summer by all members. Winter dress consists of a long-sleeved shirt and tie for all members and, depending on the climate of the detachment area, heavier boots, winter coats (storm coats) and a fur cap are worn.
In British Columbia the hat features a black bearskin rim belt.
In 1990, Baltej Singh Dhillon
became the first Sikh
officer in the RCMP to be allowed to wear a turban
instead of the traditional Stetson
. On March 15, the federal government, despite protests, decided that Sikhs would be permitted to wear turbans while on duty as RCMP officers.
On May 23, 1974, RCMP Commissioner M.J. Nadon announced that the RCMP would begin to accept applications from females as regular members of the force. This opened up positions that had been previously reserved for male members. Troop 17 was the first group of 32 females who arrived at Depot in Regina on September 18 and 19, 1974, to begin training to become regular members. This first all-female troop graduated from Depot on March 3, 1975. After an initial period of being required to wear rather unflattering discrete female rig, women officers were ultimately given standard RCMP uniforms and all officers are now identically attired regardless of gender, with two exceptions. The ceremonial dress uniform, or "walking-out order", for female members currently consists of a long, blue skirt and footwear with a higher heel that slips on, commonly known as pumps. Female officers are also attired with a small black clutch purse when walking-out order is called for. The second exception in uniform is the official maternity uniform, worn when pregnant female officers are assigned to administrative duties.
In 1981 the first female was promoted to corporal and the first females served on the musical ride; in 1987 the first female served in a foreign post; in 1990 the first female was appointed detachment commander; in 1992 the first female officers were commissioned and in 1998 the first female Assistant Commissioner was appointed.
From December 15, 2006, to July 2007, Beverley Busson
served as interim Commissioner of the RCMP, making her the first woman to hold the top position in the force. She was replaced by William J.S. Elliott
on July 6, 2007, (Elliott was sworn in on July 16—the first civilian to lead the RCMP.)
Although the RCMP is a civilian police force, in 1921, following the service of many of its members during the First World War, King George V
awarded the force the status of a regiment of dragoons, entitling it to display the battle honours it had been awarded.
, members of the North-West Mounted Police were given leaves of absence
to fight with the 2nd Battalion
, Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR) and Strathcona's Horse. The force raised the Canadian Mounted Rifles, mostly from NWMP members, for service in South Africa. For the CMR's distinguished service there, King Edward VII
honoured the NWMP by changing the name to the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) on June 24, 1904.
During World War I
, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) conducted border patrols, surveillance
of enemy alien
s, and enforcement of national security
regulations within Canada. However, RNWMP officers also served overseas. On August 6, 1914, a squadron
of volunteers from the RNWMP was formed to serve with the Canadian Light Horse in France. In 1918, two more squadrons were raised, A Squadron for service in France and Flanders
and B Squadron for service in the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force
In 1939, No. 1 Provost Company (RCMP), Canadian Provost Corps
, was raised for service in Europe and served throughout World War II
as Military Police
.
of dragoons, the RCMP was entitled to wear battle honours for its war service as well as carry a guidon. The RCMP mounted the King's Life Guard at Horse Guards Parade
in 1937 leading up to the coronation
of King George VI
.
Battle honours:
Honorary distinction:
, especially national security
with other countries, to provide assistance in investigations that directly affect Canada, to coordinate and assist RCMP officers on foreign business and to represent the RCMP at international meetings.
Liaison Officers are located in:
The Commissioner is assisted by a Senior Deputy Commissioner who is second in command of the force. SDC primarily functions to review, consult, or advice agency matters before they are considered by the Commissioner.
Under the Commissioner and Senior Deputy Commissioner, operational direction is provided by Deputy Commissioners in charge of:
The RCMP divides the country into divisions
for command purposes. In general, each division is coterminous with a province (for example, C Division is Quebec
). The province of Ontario
, however, is divided into two divisions: A Division (Ottawa) and O Division (rest of the province). There is one additional division Depot Division, which is the RCMP Academy
at Regina, Saskatchewan
, and the Police Dog Service Training Centre at Bowden, Alberta
. The RCMP headquarters are located in Ottawa, Ontario.
Actual Personnel Strength by Ranks:
s, and include all the ranks from Constable to Commissioner. They are the police officers of the RCMP and are responsible for investigating crime and have the authority to make arrests. RMs operate in over 750 detachments, including 200 municipalities and more than 600 Aboriginal communities. RMs are normally assigned to general policing duties at an RCMP detachment for a minimum of three years. These duties will allow them to experience a broad range of assignments and experiences, such as responding to alarms, foot patrol, bicycle patrol, traffic enforcement, collecting evidence at crime scenes, testifying in court, apprehending criminals and plain clothes duties. Regular members also serve in over 150 different types of operational and administrative opportunities available within the RCMP, these include: major crime investigations, emergency response, forensic identification, international peacekeeping, bike or marine patrol, explosives disposal and police dog services. Also included are administrative roles including human resources, corporate planning, policy analysis and public affairs.
Currently, there are:
Auxiliary constables (A/Cst.): Volunteers within their own community, appointed under provincial police acts. They are not police officers and can not identify themselves as such. However, they are given peace officer
powers when on duty with a regular member (RM). Their duties consist mainly of assisting the RM in routine events, for eg. cordoning off crime scene areas, crowd control, participating in community policing, assistance during situations where regular members might be overwhelmed with their duties (eg. keep watch of a backseat detainee while RM interviews a victim). They are identified by the wording of 'RCMP Auxiliary' on cars, jackets and shoulder flashes.
Community Safety Officers (CSO): In 2008, a new designation within the RCMP in the Province of British Columbia
was created based on the UK Police Community Support Officer
program. Community Safety Officers are paid, unarmed RCMP staff members with similar RCMP uniform but distinct shoulder crests with baton
and pepper spray
. CSOs work with regular members in five areas: Community Safety; Crime Prevention; Traffic Support; Community Policing and Investigation Support. They are peace officers but are not police officers.
Reserve constables (R/Cst.): A program reinstated in 2004 in British Columbia
to allow for retired, regular RCMP members or other provincially trained officers to provide extra manpower when a shortage is identified. R/Cst. are appointed under Section 11 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act as paid part time, armed officers with the same powers as regular members. However, they are not allowed to carry force-issued sidearms and use of force
options unless they are called upon to duty. They generally carry out community policing roles but may also be called upon if an emergency occurs.
Special constables (S/Cst.): Employees of RCMP, have varied duties depending on where they are deployed, but are often given this designation because of an expertise they possess which needs to be applied in a certain area. For example, an Aboriginal person might be appointed a special constable in order to assist regular members as they police an Aboriginal community where English is not well understood, and where the special speaks the language well.
Civilian members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: While not delegated the powers of police officers, they are instead hired for their specialized scientific, technological, communications and administrative skills. Since the RCMP is a multi-faceted law enforcement organization with responsibilities for federal, provincial and municipal policing duties, it offers employment opportunities for civilian members as professional partners within Canada's national police force.
Civilian members represent approximately 14% of the total RCMP employee population, and are employed within RCMP establishments in most geographical areas of Canada. The following is a list of the most common categories of employment that may be available to interested and qualified individuals.
Public Service Employees: Also referred to as Public Servants, PSes or PSEs, they provide much of the administrative support for the RCMP in the form of detachment clerks and other administrative support at the headquarters level. They are not police officers, do not wear a uniform, have no police authority and are not bound by the RCMP Act.
Municipal Employees:
Abbreviated as "ME" they are found in RCMP detachments where a contract exists with a municipality to provide front-line policing. MEs are not actually employees of the RCMP, but are instead employed by the local municipality to work in the RCMP detachment. They conduct the same duties that a PSE would and are required to meet the same reliability and security clearance to do so. Many detachment buildings house a combination of municipal and provincially funded detachments, and therefore there are often PSEs and MEs found working together in them.
force. The insignia were based upon the Canadian Army of the time, which is almost identical to that of the current British Army
. Higher ranks have been increased over the years since the formation of the force, whereas the rank of inspector
, which was initially a subaltern
, is now a field officer
level, the lower officer ranks having been dropped. With the military
introducing the warrant officer
, the RCMP non-commissioned officers were maintained using the older military style.
The numbers are current as of 1 September 2011
The ranks of inspector and higher are commissioned ranks and are appointed by the Governor-in-Council. Depending on the dress, badges are worn on the shoulder as slip-ons, on shoulder boards, or directly on the epaulette
s. The lower ranks are non-commissioned officers and the insignia continues to be based on British army patterns. Since 1990, the non-commissioned officers’ rank insignia has been embroidered on the epaulette slip-ons. Non-commissioned rank badges are worn on the right sleeve of the scarlet/blue tunic and blue jacket. The constables wear no rank insignia. There are also special constables, auxiliary constables, and students who wear identifying insignia.
Insignia are as follows:
Many of the following vehicles have been used by the RCMP as marked and unmarked police vehicles:
, including the territorial sea and contiguous zone as well as the Great Lakes
and St. Lawrence Seaway; such operations are provided by the RCMP's Federal Services Directorate and includes enforcing Canada's environment, fisheries, customs and immigration laws. In provinces and municipalities where the RCMP performs contract policing, the force is also responsible for policing on freshwater lakes and rivers.
To meet these challenges, the RCMP operates what is known as the Marine Division, with five Robert Allan Ltd.
–designed high-speed catamaran
patrol vessels; Inkster and the Commissioner-class Nadon, Higgitt, Lindsay and Simmonds, based on all three coasts and manned by officers specially trained in maritime enforcement. Inkster is based in Prince Rupert, BC, Simmonds is stationed on the south coast of Newfoundland, and the rest are located on the Pacific Coast. The boats have the RCMP badge, but are painted with Canadian Coast Guard
colours and marking Coast Guard Police.
The RCMP owns and operates 377 smaller boats at various locations across Canada, this number comprising all vessels less than 9.2 metres (30.2 ft) long. This category ranges from from canoe
s and car toppers to rigid-hulled inflatables and stable, commercially built, inboard/outboard vessels. Individual detachments often have smaller high-speed rigid-hulled inflatable boat
s and other purpose-built vessels for inland waters, some of which can be hauled by road to the nearest launching point.
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. The RCMP provides policing services to all of Canada at a federal level, and also on a contract basis to the three territories, eight of Canada's provinces (the RCMP does not provide provincial or municipal policing in either Ontario or Quebec), more than 190 municipalities, 184 aboriginal communities, and three international airports.
The RCMP was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, founded 1873) with the Dominion Police
Dominion Police
In 1868 the Dominion Police began as a police force protecting the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and by 1911 it served as Canada's eastern police force .In May 1918, the 969...
(founded 1868). The former was originally named the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), and was given the Royal prefix by King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
in 1904. Much of the present-day organization's symbolism has been inherited from its days as the NWMP, including the distinctive Red Serge
Red Serge
The Red Serge refers to the jacket of the dress uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It consists of a scarlet British-style military pattern tunic, complete with a high-neck collar....
uniform, paramilitary heritage, and mythos as a frontier force. The RCMP/GRC wording is specifically protected under the Trade-marks Act.
As the national police force of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is primarily responsible for enforcing federal laws throughout Canada, while general law and order including the enforcement of the Criminal Code and applicable provincial legislation is constitutionally the responsibility of the provinces and territories
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
. This responsibility is sometimes further delegated to municipalities which can form their own municipal police departments. This is common in the largest cities.
The two most populous provinces, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, maintain their own provincial forces; the Ontario Provincial Police
Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
and Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...
. The other eight provinces, however, have chosen to contract most or all of their provincial policing responsibilities to the RCMP. Under these contracts the RCMP provides front-line policing in those provinces under the direction of the provincial governments in regard to provincial and municipal law enforcement. When Newfoundland joined the confederation in 1949, the RCMP entered the province and absorbed the then Newfoundland Rangers and took over responsibilities in that area. Today the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is a police force in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It provides policing to the communities of St. John's and the Northeast Avalon Peninsula, Corner Brook, Churchill Falls, and Labrador City....
has reclaimed some of that province to their jurisdiction. In the three territories, the RCMP serves as the sole territorial police force
Territorial police force
The phrase Territorial Police Force varies in precise meaning according to the country to which it is related, generally distinguishing a force whose area of responsibility is defined by sub-national boundaries from others which deal with the entire country or a restricted range of...
. Additionally, many municipalities throughout Canada contract the RCMP to serve as their police force. The RCMP consequently provides policing services at the federal, provincial and municipal level.
The RCMP is responsible for an unusually large breadth of duties. Under their federal mandate, the RCMP provides policing throughout Canada, including Ontario and Quebec (albeit under smaller scales there). Federal operations include: enforcing federal laws including commercial crime, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, border integrity, organized crime and other related matters; providing counter-terrorism and domestic security; providing protection services
Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Protective Security Program
The Protective Policing Service is provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Its role is to provide security details for: 1) members of the Canadian Royal Family and the Governor General, 2) the Prime Minister, the families of the Prime Minister and Governor General, federal cabinet...
for the Monarch, Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
, their families and residences, and other ministers of the Crown
Minister of the Crown
Minister of the Crown is the formal constitutional term used in the Commonwealth realms to describe a minister to the reigning sovereign. The term indicates that the minister serves at His/Her Majesty's pleasure, and advises the monarch, or viceroy, on how to exercise the Crown prerogatives...
, visiting dignitaries, and diplomatic missions; and participating in various international policing efforts. Under provincial and municipal contracts the RCMP provides front-line policing in all areas outside of Ontario and Quebec that do not have an established local police force. There are detachments located in small villages in the far north, remote First Nations reserves, and rural towns, but also larger cities such as Surrey, BC
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
(population 394,976). In these provinces the RCMP maintains units that provide investigational support to their own detachments, as well as smaller municipal police forces, including the investigation of major crimes such as homicides, forensic identification services, police dog services, emergency response teams, explosives disposal, undercover operations, and others. Under its National Police Services branch the RCMP provides support to all police forces in Canada through the operation of support services such as the Canadian Police Information Centre
Canadian Police Information Centre
The Canadian Police Information Centre is the central police database where Canada's law enforcement agencies can access information on a number of matters. It is Canada's only national law enforcement networking computer system ensuring officers all across the country can access the same...
, the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada is an inter-agency organization in Canada designed to coordinate and share criminal intelligence amongst member police forces. The CISC has a central bureau in Ottawa and ten bureaus in each province offering services to over 380 law enforcement agencies in...
, Forensic Science and Identification Services, the Canadian Firearms Program and the Canadian Police College.
The RCMP Security Service
RCMP Security Service
The RCMP Security Service is the former branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which had responsibilities of domestic intelligence and security for Canada...
was a specialized political intelligence and counterintelligence branch with national security responsibilities, but was replaced with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's national intelligence service. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.Its...
in 1984, following revelations of illegal covert operation
Covert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
s relating to the Quebec separatist movement
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
. CSIS is not part of the RCMP, but is its own entity.
Duties, conduct and operational and reporting guidelines are very specifically laid out in a detailed document known as the Commissioner's Standing Orders, or CSOs.
North-West Mounted Police
The RCMP has its beginnings in the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP). The police was established by an act of legislation from the Temporary North-West CouncilTemporary North-West Council
The Temporary North-West Council more formally known as the Council of the Northwest Territories and by its short name as the North-West Council lasted from the creation of Northwest Territories, Canada, in 1870 until it was dissolved in 1876...
the first territorial government of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
. The Act was approved by the Government of Canada and established on May 23, 1873, by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, on the advice of her Canadian Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
, with the intent of bringing law and order to, and asserting sovereignty over, the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
. The need was particularly urgent given reports of American whiskey traders, in particular those of Fort Whoop-Up
Fort Whoop-Up
Fort Whoop-Up was the nickname given to a whisky trading post, originally Fort Hamilton, near what is now Lethbridge, Alberta. During the late 19th century, the post served as a centre for various illegal activities...
, causing trouble in the region, culminating in the Cypress Hills Massacre
Cypress Hills massacre
The Cypress Hills massacre occurred on June 1, 1873, in the Cypress Hills region of Battle Creek, North-West Territories , involving a group of American Bison hunters, American wolf hunters or 'wolfers', American and Canadian whiskey traders, Métis cargo haulers or 'freighters', and a camp of...
. The new force was initially to be called the North West Mounted Rifles, but this proposal was rejected as sounding too militaristic in nature, which Macdonald feared would antagonize both aboriginals and Americans; however, the force was organized along the lines of a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, and was to wear red uniforms.
The NWMP was modelled directly on the Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
, a civilian paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
armed police force with both mounted and foot elements under the authority of what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. First NWMP commissioner, Colonel George Arthur French visited Ireland to learn its methods.
Emerson, Manitoba
Emerson is a town in south central Manitoba, Canada, with a population of 655. The town is named after writer Ralph Waldo Emerson.Emerson is located on the east bank of the Red River, just north of the border with the United States at the point where Manitoba, Minnesota, and North Dakota meet. ...
. They departed on July 8, 1874, on a march to what is now Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
The group comprised 22 officers, 287 men called constables and sub-constables 310 horses, 67 wagons, 114 ox-carts, 18 yoke of oxen, 50 cows and 40 calves. A pictorial account of the journey was recorded in the diary of Henri Julien
Henri Julien
Henri Julien, baptised Octave-Henri Julien was a French Canadian artist and cartoonist noted for his work for the Canadian Illustrated News....
, an artist from the Canadian Illustrated News
Canadian Illustrated News
The Canadian Illustrated News was a weekly Canadian illustrated magazine published in Montreal from 1869 to 1883. It was published by George Desbarats....
, who accompanied the expedition.
Their destination was Fort Whoop-Up, a notorious whiskey trading post located at the junction of the Belly
Belly River
Belly River is a river in northwest Montana, United States and southern Alberta, Canada. It is a tributary of the Oldman River, itself a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River....
and Oldman River
Oldman River
The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, Taber, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins with the Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan River, which eventually drains into...
s. Upon arrival at Whoop-Up and finding it abandoned the troop continued a few miles west and established headquarters on an island in the Oldman, naming it Fort MacLeod.
Historians have theorized that failure of the 1874 March West would not have completely ended the Canadian federal government's vision of settling the country's western plains, but could have delayed it for many years. It could also have encouraged the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
to seek a more northerly route for its transcontinental railway that went through the well-mapped and partially settled valley of the North Saskatchewan River
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....
, touching on Prince Albert
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
, Battleford and Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, and through the Yellowhead Pass
Yellowhead Pass
The Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park....
, as originally proposed by Sandford Fleming
Sandford Fleming
Sir Sandford Fleming, was a Scottish-born Canadian engineer and inventor, proposed worldwide standard time zones, designed Canada's first postage stamp, a huge body of surveying and map making, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding...
. This would have offered no economic justification for the existence of cities like Brandon
Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon is the second largest city in Manitoba, Canada, and is located in the southwestern area of the province. Brandon is the largest city in the Westman region of Manitoba. The city is located along the Assiniboine River. Spruce Woods Provincial Park and CFB Shilo are a relatively short distance...
, Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, and Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, which could, in turn, have tempted American expansionists to make a play for the flat, empty southern regions of the Canadian prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
s.
The NWMP's early activities included containing the whiskey trade and enforcing agreements with the First Nations peoples; to that end, the commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of the force arranged to be sworn in as a justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, which allowed for magisterial authority within the Mounties' jurisdiction. In the early years, the force's dedication to enforcing the law on behalf of the First Nations peoples impressed the latter enough to encourage good relations between them and the Crown. In the summer of 1876, Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
and thousands of Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
fled from the US Army towards what is now southern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, and James Morrow Walsh
James Morrow Walsh
James Morrow Walsh, was a North West Mounted Police officer and the first Commissioner of the Yukon Territory....
of the NWMP was charged with maintaining control in the large Sioux settlement at Wood Mountain. Walsh and Sitting Bull became good friends, and the peace at Wood Mountain was maintained. In 1885, the NWMP helped to quell the North-West Rebellion
North-West Rebellion
The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...
led by Louis Riel
Louis Riel
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....
. They suffered particularly heavy losses during the Battle of Duck Lake
Battle of Duck Lake
The Battle of Duck Lake was a skirmish between Métis soldiers of the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan and Canadian government forces that signalled the beginning of the North-West Rebellion.-Prelude:...
, but saw little other active combat.
Klondike Gold Rush
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
sent inspector Charles Constantine
Charles Constantine
Charles Constantine was a Canadian North-West Mounted Police officer and superintendent, from Bradford, Yorkshire....
to report on conditions in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
. Constantine correctly forecast a coming gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
and urgently recommended sending a force to secure Canadian sovereignty there and collect customs duties; he returned the following year with a force of 20 men. Under the command of Constantine, and his successor in 1898, the more famous Sam Steele
Sam Steele
Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO was a distinguished Canadian soldier and police official...
, the NWMP distinguished itself during the Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
, which started in 1896, making it one of the most peaceful and orderly such affairs in history. The NWMP not only enforced criminal law, but also collected customs duties, established a number of rules such as the "ton of goods" requirement for prospectors to enter the Yukon to avoid another famine, mandatory boat inspections for those wanting to travel the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
, and created the Blue Ticket used to expel undesirables from the Klondike. The Mounties did tolerate certain illegal activities, such as gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, and the force did not succeed in its attempt to establish order and Canadian sovereignty in Skagway, Alaska
Skagway, Alaska
Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...
, at the head of the Lynn Canal
Lynn Canal
Lynn Canal is an inlet into the mainland of southeast Alaska.Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage...
, instead creating the customs post at the summit of the Chilkoot Pass
Chilkoot Pass
Chilkoot Pass is a high mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett Lake, British Columbia...
. At that same time, the dissolution of the NWMP was being discussed in the House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
, but the gold rush prospectors were so impressed by the conduct of the Mounted Police that the force became world famous and its continuation was ensured.
Evolution of the force
The North-West Mounted Police's jurisdiction was extended northward to the Yukon Territory in 1895 and then again in 1903 to the ArcticArctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
coast, with the establishment of a post at Cape Fullerton
Cape Fullerton
Cape Fullerton is a cape and peninsula in Nunavut, Canada located on the northwest shores of Hudson Bay on Roes Welcome Sound and includes Fullerton Harbour...
. In June 1904, the prefix "Royal" was conferred on the NWMP by King Edward VII. Jurisdiction was extended to the new provinces of Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
in 1905, and to Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
's new annexation in 1912. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the RNWMP was responsible for "border patrols, surveillance of enemy aliens, and enforcement of national security regulations". In 1917, provincial policing contracts were terminated, and the RNWMP was responsible only for federal policing in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, and the Territories. Come 1918, however, enforcement was once again extended to all four Western Provinces (British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, and Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
). A squadron was deployed to Vladivostok, Russia in late 1918 as part of the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force
Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force was a Canadian military force sent to Vladivostok, Russia during the Russian Revolution to bolster the allied presence. Composed of 4,192 soldiers and authorised in August 1918, the force returned to Canada between April and June 1919...
. Six months later, in June 1919, the RNWMP was called in to repress the general strike
Winnipeg General Strike of 1919
The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history, and became the platform for future labour reforms....
in Manitoba's capital, Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, where officers fired into a crowd of strikers, killing two and causing injury to thirty others. Another strike of that scale was never seen again, but clashes between the RNWMP and strikers continued; Mounties killed three strikers in 1931, when striking coal miners from Bienfait, Saskatchewan
Bienfait, Saskatchewan
- See also :* List of communities in SaskatchewanThe town of Bienfait was incorporated as the Village of Bienfait on April 16, 1912 becoming a town on March 1, 1957...
demonstrated
Estevan Riot
The Estevan Riot, also known as the Black Tuesday Riot, was a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and striking coal miners from nearby Bienfait, Saskatchewan which took place in Estevan, Saskatchewan on September 29, 1931. The miners had been on strike since September 7, 1931...
in nearby Estevan. These incidents did not help the image of the RNWMP, which, since the end of First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, was being looked at as an outdated institution, more suited to the 19th century frontier than with an industrialising 20th century Canada.
Aylesworth Perry
Aylesworth Perry
Aylesworth Bowen Perry, C.M.G. served as the sixth Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from August 1, 1900, to March 31, 1923.- Early life :...
served as Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police from 1900 to 1922. It was in this period that the force was faced, again, with dissolution, but was saved in 1920 when it merged with the Dominion Police
Dominion Police
In 1868 the Dominion Police began as a police force protecting the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and by 1911 it served as Canada's eastern police force .In May 1918, the 969...
and was renamed as the "Royal Canadian Mounted Police". The new organization was charged with federal law enforcement in all the provinces and territories, and immediately set about establishing its modern role as protector of Canadian national security, as well as assuming responsibility for national counterintelligence.
As part of its national security and intelligence functions, the RCMP was responsible for infiltrating any ethnic or political groups that were considered to be dangerous to Canada's existing order. This included the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
, but also a variety of minority cultural and nationalist groups. The force was also deeply involved in immigration matters, and especially deportations of suspected radicals. They were especially concerned with Ukrainian groups, both nationalist and socialist. The Chinese community
Chinese Canadian
Chinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians...
was also targeted because the perceived link to opium dens. Historians estimate that fully two per cent of the Chinese community was deported between 1923 and 1932, largely under the provisions of the Opium and Narcotics Drugs Act (ONDA). Besides the RCMP's new responsibilities in intelligence, drugs enforcement, and immigration, the force also provided assistance to numerous other federal agencies, such as enforcing the residential school system for First Nations' children.
In 1935, the RCMP, collaborating with the Regina Police Service
Regina Police Service
Regina Police Service, formed in 1892, is the municipal police force for the City of Regina, Saskatchewan.During the late 1890s, Regina was capital of the Northwest Territories, though not more than a collection of frame buildings and tents...
, crushed the On-to-Ottawa Trek
On-to-Ottawa Trek
The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a long journey where thousands of people had unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada. The men lived and worked in these camps at a rate of twenty cents per day before walking out on strike in...
by sparking the Regina Riot, in which one city police officer and one protester were killed. The Trek, which had been organized to call attention to the abysmal conditions in the relief camps, therefore failed to reach Ottawa, but nevertheless had profound political reverberations.
Special constable
A Special Constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force. Some like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carry the same law enforcement powers as regular members, but are employed in specific roles, such as explosive disposal technicians, court security, campus...
s to assist with strikebreaking in the interwar period. For a brief period in the late 1930s, a volunteer militia group, the Legion of Frontiersmen
Legion of Frontiersmen
The Legion of Frontiersmen is a paramilitary group formed in Britain in 1905 by Roger Pocock, a former Constable with the North-West Mounted Police and Boer War veteran, with its roots firmly set in another era, to bolster the defensive capacity of the British Empire...
were affiliated with the RCMP. Many members of the RCMP belonged to this organization, which was prepared to serve as an auxiliary force. In later years, special constables performed duties such as policing airports and, in certain Canadian provinces, the court houses.
In 1932, men and vessels of the Preventive Service, National Revenue, were absorbed, creating the RCMP Marine Section. The acquisition of the RCMP schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
St. Roch facilitated the first effective patrol of Canada's Arctic territory. It was the first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
from west to east (1940–42), the first to navigate the Passage in one season (from Halifax to Vancouver in 1944), the first to sail either way through the Passage in one season, and the first to circumnavigate North America (1950).
Counterintelligence work was moved from the RCMP's Criminal Investigation Department
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
to a specialized intelligence branch, the RCMP Security Service
RCMP Security Service
The RCMP Security Service is the former branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which had responsibilities of domestic intelligence and security for Canada...
, in 1939.
Post-war
April 1, 1949, Newfoundland joined in full confederation with Canada and the Newfoundland RangersNewfoundland Rangers
The Newfoundland Ranger Force is a defunct police force of the pre-confederation Dominion of Newfoundland, which provided law enforcement and other government services to outports. It existed from 1935 to 1950, at which point it was merged into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...
amalgamated with the RCMP.
Following the 1945 defection of Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
cipher clerk, Igor Gouzenko
Igor Gouzenko
Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko was a cipher clerk for the Soviet Embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. He defected on September 5, 1945, with 109 documents on Soviet espionage activities in the West...
and his revelations of espionage, the RCMP Security Service
RCMP Security Service
The RCMP Security Service is the former branch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which had responsibilities of domestic intelligence and security for Canada...
implemented measures to screen out “subversive” elements from the public sector.
Queen Elizabeth II approved in Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
on July 4, 1973 a new badge for the RCMP, in recognition of which the force presented the sovereign with a tapestry rendering of the new design.
In the late 1970s, revelations surfaced that the RCMP Security Service force had in the course of their intelligence duties engaged in crimes such as burning a barn and stealing documents from the separatist Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
, and other abuses. This led to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP
Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP, better known as the McDonald Commission, was a Royal Commission called by the Canadian government of Pierre Trudeau to investigate the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after a number of illegal activities by the RCMP Security Service...
, better known as the "McDonald Commission," named for the presiding judge, Mr Justice David Cargill McDonald. The Commission recommended that the force's intelligences duties be removed in favor of the creation of a separate intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's national intelligence service. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.Its...
(CSIS).
Modern era
Special Emergency Response Team
The Special Emergency Response Team was the RCMP counter-terrorism unit which existed until 1993. Its duties were then taken by the Canadian Forces in the form of Joint Task Force Two....
(SERT), were transferred to the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
, creating a new unit called Joint Task Force Two (JTF2). JTF2 inherited some equipment and SERT's former training base near Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been involved in training and logistically supporting the Haitian National Police since 1994, a controversial matter in Canada considering allegations of widespread human rights violations on the part of the HNP. Some Canadian activist groups have called for an end to the RCMP training. The RCMP has also provided training overseas in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and other peace-keeping missions.
The suspected driver of the reconnaissance vehicle involved in the Khobar Towers bombing
Khobar Towers bombing
The Khobar Towers bombing was a terrorist attack on part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, located near the national oil company headquarters of Dhahran. In 1996, Khobar Towers was being used to house foreign military personnel.Al-Qaeda has incorrectly been described by...
fled to Canada where he was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the winter of 1997, and was extradited to the United States.
On March 3, 2005, four RCMP officers were fatally shot during an operation to recover stolen property and investigate a possible marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
grow-op and serve an arrest warrant just outside of Mayerthrope, Alberta. Shooter James Roszko, 46, then killed himself. It was the single worst multiple killing of RCMP officers since the Northwest Rebellion. One of the four Mounties killed had been on the job for only 17 days. The victims were:
- Const. Lionide (Leo) Nicholas Johnston, 34 Mayerthorpe Detachment
- Const. Anthony Fitzgerald Orion Gordon, 28 Whitecourt Town Detachment General Policing and Highway Patrol
- Const. Brock Warren Myrol, 29 Mayerthorpe Detachment
- Const. Peter Christopher Schiemann, 25 Mayerthorpe Detachment General Policing and Highway Patrol
On October 29, 2005, constable Paul Koester shot and killed Ian Bush
Ian Bush
Ian Bush , a resident of British Columbia, Canada, was killed while in police custody on October 29, 2005 by Constable Paul Koester of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Significant ongoing controversy has been generated as a result of the case. Ian Bush was a popular young man in Houston BC...
while he was in custody. An internal investigation resulted in no action being taken against the constable, and, as a result, a public inquest was commissioned. The inquest recommended that the RCMP refrain from carrying out internal investigations with regard to fatal incidents involving the RCMP and the public.
On July 7, 2006, two RCMP officers were shot to death near Mildred, Saskatchewan. The killer, Curtis Dagenais, 41, was missing until July 18, when he turned himself in. The victims were:
- Const. Robin Cameron, 29: Spiritwood Detachment
- Const. Marc Bourdages, 26: Spiritwood Detachment
Dagenais was subsequently convicted of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder of a third Mountie who arrived shortly after the initial firefight.
In 2006, the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
's Ninth District and the RCMP began a program called "Shiprider," in which 12 Mounties from the RCMP detachment at Windsor and 16 Coast Guard boarding officers from stations in Michigan ride in each other's vessels. The intent is to allow for seamless enforcement of the international border. (PA1 John Masson, "Territorial Teamwork," Coast Guard Magazine 2/2006, pp. 26–27).
On December 6, 2006, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli
Giuliano Zaccardelli
Giuliano Zaccardelli, COM is a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who was the Commissioner of the RCMP from 2 September 2000 to 15 December 2006. Zaccardelli's departure from the RCMP was linked to the force's involvement in the Maher Arar Affair...
resigned one day after informing the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security that his earlier testimony about the Maher Arar
Maher Arar
Maher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. Arar's story is frequently referred to as "extraordinary rendition" but the U.S. government insisted it was a case of deportation.Arar was detained during a layover at John F...
case was inaccurate. The RCMP had improperly given information to the US that resulted in Arar, a Canadian returning to Montreal via the US, being sent to Syria where he was imprisoned for 10 months and tortured into signing a false confession of links to terrorists.
Earlier, on September 28, 2006, and before the same Commons committee, Commissioner Zaccardelli
Giuliano Zaccardelli
Giuliano Zaccardelli, COM is a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who was the Commissioner of the RCMP from 2 September 2000 to 15 December 2006. Zaccardelli's departure from the RCMP was linked to the force's involvement in the Maher Arar Affair...
had issued a carefully worded public apology to Arar and his family:
Mr. Arar, I wish to take this opportunity to express publicly to you and to your wife and to your children how truly sorry I am for whatever part the actions of the RCMP may have contributed to the terrible injustices that you experienced and the pain that you and your family endured.
On January 26, 2007, after months of negotiations between the Canadian government and Arar's Canadian legal counsel, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology "for any role Canadian officials may have played in what happened to Mr. Arar, Monia Mazigh and their family in 2002 and 2003" and announced that Arar would receive $10.5 million settlement for his ordeal and an additional $1 million for legal costs.
On October 6, 2007, Constable Christopher John Worden of Hay River Detachment, Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
was shot and killed in Hay River
Hay River, Northwest Territories
Hay River , known as "the Hub of the North," is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The town is separated into two sections, a new town and an old town with the Hay River Airport between them...
while on duty in that community. A nationwide arrest warrant was issued for Emrah Bulatci. Bulatci was apprehended on October 12 in Edmonton, Alberta.
On October 14, 2007, Robert Dziekański, an emigrant from Poland, died at Vancouver International Airport
Vancouver International Airport
Vancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
. Dziekański had failed to clear Customs and after eight hours of loitering became agitated, perhaps because he spoke no English and therefore was unable to ask for assistance. Four RCMP officers were summoned after he threw a computer and a small table. During his arrest, he was Taser
Taser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
ed at least twice within 25 seconds of the officers' arrival. After dropping to the floor, he was held down and handcuffed by the officers. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The incident was videotaped and eventually released to the public, resulting in outrage over the RCMP's handling of the unarmed man. The Dziekanski confrontation has provoked considerable debate about the use of Tasers in policing.
On November 6, 2007, Constable Doug Scott, 20, was killed in Kimmirut, Nunavut
Kimmirut, Nunavut
Kimmirut is a community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located on the shore of Hudson Strait on Baffin Island's Meta Incognita Peninsula. Kimmirut means "heel", and refers to a rocky outcrop in the inlet.It was at one time a Hudson's Bay Company trading post, and a Royal...
when responding to a report of a possible impaired driver. He had been with the service for only six months.
In 2007, the RCMP was named Newsmaker of the Year
Canadian Newsmaker of the Year
The Canadian Newsmaker of the Year is a title awarded by the Canadian Press annually since 1946, reflecting the opinion of CP, and, since its formation in 1954, that of Broadcast News, on which Canadian has had the most influence on the news in a given year...
by the Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
.
History of the RCMP uniform
The RCMP are famous for their distinctive Red SergeRed Serge
The Red Serge refers to the jacket of the dress uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It consists of a scarlet British-style military pattern tunic, complete with a high-neck collar....
, referred to as "Review Order" (of dress uniform), consisting of: high collared scarlet
Scarlet
Scarlet may refer to:* Scarlet , a bright tone of red that is slightly toward orange* Scarlet , type of woollen cloth common in medieval England* Scarlet , women's magazine in the UK* Scarlet , 1995...
tunic, midnight blue
Midnight Blue
Midnight blue is a dark shade of blue, close to black, that was named for its darkness. Midnight blue is the color of a vat full of Indigo dye; therefore, midnight blue may also be considered a dark shade of indigo...
breeches
Breeches
Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...
with yellow leg strip, Sam Browne belt
Sam Browne belt
The Sam Browne belt is a wide belt, usually leather, which is supported by a strap going diagonally over the right shoulder. It is most often seen as part of a military or police uniform.-Origins:...
with shoulder cross strap and white sidearm lanyard, oxblood riding boots (possibly with spurs), brown felt Campaign hat
Campaign hat
A campaign cover is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners .It is associated with the New Zealand Army, the Royal Canadian...
(wide, flat brimmed) with the characteristic "Montana crease", and brown gloves (with brown leather gauntlets for riders). Review Order is worn by the mounted troop performing the Musical Ride
Musical Ride
The Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a formal event showcasing the equestrian skills performed by thirty-two cavalry who are regular members of the force. The event is held in Canada and worldwide to promote the RCMP...
, an equestrian drill in which mounted members demonstrate their riding skills and handling of the cavalry lance. On normal duties, the RCMP uses standard police methods, equipment, and uniforms. Horses are still used for such ceremonial operations as escorting the Governor General's open landau
Landau (carriage)
A landau is a coachbuilding term for a type of four-wheeled, convertible carriage. See also Landau .It is lightweight and suspended on elliptical springs. It was invented in the 18th century and was named after the German city of Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate where they were first produced...
to the Opening of Parliament.
The Red Serge tunic that identified initially the NWMP, and later the RNWMP and RCMP, is of the standard British military pattern. The NWMP was originally kitted out from militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
stores, resulting initially in several different styles of tunic, although the style later became standardized. This style was used both to emphasize the British nature of the force and to differentiate it from the blue American military uniforms. The blue shoulder epaulets were added in the 1920s, long after King Edward VII granted the Force "Royal" status for its service in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, replacing gold-trimmed scarlet straps from the earlier uniforms. Currently, RCMP personnel under the rank of inspector wear blue "gorget" patches on the collar, while officers from inspector to commissioner have solid blue collars, along with blue pointed-sleeve cuffs.
Buff (colour)
Buff is a pale yellow-brown colour that got its name from the colour of buff leather.Displayed on the right is the colour buff.EtymologyAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, buff as a descriptor of a colour was first used in the London Gazette of 1686, describing a uniform to be "A Red Coat...
breeches. Later dark blue breeches with yellow-gold strapping (stripes) were adopted. Members of the NWMP were known to exchange kit with U.S. cavalry units along the border and it is suggested that this was the initial source for the breeches; however, blue breeches were considered early on, although with a white strap. Dark blue with yellow-gold strapping is another British cavalry tradition.
The wide, flat-brimmed Stetson
Stetson
Stetsons are the brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri.Stetson eventually became the world’s largest hat maker, producing over 3.3 million hats a year in a factory spread over . Today Stetson remains a family-owned concern...
hat was not adopted officially until about 1904. Although the NWMP contingent at Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
's Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...
wore the Stetson, it was an unofficial item of dress. The primary official summer headdress at the time was the white British foreign service helmet, also known as a pith helmet
Pith helmet
The pith helmet is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of cork or pith...
. This was not particularly practical as headdress in the Canadian west, and members wore a Stetson type hat on patrol and around camp. Sam Steele
Sam Steele
Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO was a distinguished Canadian soldier and police official...
is often credited with introducing the Stetson-type hat, and when he left the force to command Strathcona's Horse and took the regiment to South Africa he also adopted the Stetson for this unit. For winter a Canadian military fur wedge cap
Canadian military fur wedge cap
The Canadian military fur wedge cap, "envelope busby", or Astrakhan busby is a uniform hat worn by the Canadian military and RCMP. The outside of the cap is entirely covered in real or synthetic fur and is shaped like a wedge. When not being worn the cap folds flat...
or busby
Busby
Busby is the English name for the Hungarian prémes csákó or kucsma, a military head-dress made of fur, worn by Hungarian hussars. In its original Hungarian form the busby was a cylindrical fur cap, having a bag of coloured cloth hanging from the top. The end of this bag was attached to the right...
was worn.
Black riding boots were later changed to the modern brown style. The original crossbelts were later changed to the brown Sam Browne
Sam Browne belt
The Sam Browne belt is a wide belt, usually leather, which is supported by a strap going diagonally over the right shoulder. It is most often seen as part of a military or police uniform.-Origins:...
type currently worn. The brown colour of the boots and belt worn with the Red Serge come from the individual member applying numerous coats of polish, often during their time in training at Depot Division.
Sidearms are standard now, but were often not worn in the early years.
The everyday uniform consists of a grey shirt with dark blue tie, dark blue trousers with gold strapping, regular patrol boots called "ankle boots," regular duty equipment, and a regular policeman's style cap. A blue Gore-Tex
Gore-Tex
Gore-Tex is a waterproof/breathable fabric, and a registered trademark of W. L. Gore and Associates. It was co-invented by Wilbert L. Gore, Rowena Taylor, and Gore's son, Robert W. Gore. Robert Gore was granted on April 27, 1976, for a porous form of polytetrafluoroethylene with a...
open-collar jacket (patrol jacket) is worn by members on operational duty, while a dark blue jacket (blue serge), is worn by sergeant majors and certain non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s (NCOs) usually involved in aspects of recruit training or media relations. Officers wear white shirts and the patrol jacket or blue serge, depending on their duties. Short-sleeved shirts with no tie are worn in the summer by all members. Winter dress consists of a long-sleeved shirt and tie for all members and, depending on the climate of the detachment area, heavier boots, winter coats (storm coats) and a fur cap are worn.
In British Columbia the hat features a black bearskin rim belt.
In 1990, Baltej Singh Dhillon
Baltej Singh Dhillon
Baltej Singh Dhillon was the first Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer to be allowed to wear a turban.- Early life :He was born in 1966 in Malaysia and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1982. After graduating from high school, he went on to Kwantlen College to study criminology with hopes...
became the first Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
officer in the RCMP to be allowed to wear a turban
Turban
In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...
instead of the traditional Stetson
Stetson
Stetsons are the brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri.Stetson eventually became the world’s largest hat maker, producing over 3.3 million hats a year in a factory spread over . Today Stetson remains a family-owned concern...
. On March 15, the federal government, despite protests, decided that Sikhs would be permitted to wear turbans while on duty as RCMP officers.
Women in the RCMP
In 1981 the first female was promoted to corporal and the first females served on the musical ride; in 1987 the first female served in a foreign post; in 1990 the first female was appointed detachment commander; in 1992 the first female officers were commissioned and in 1998 the first female Assistant Commissioner was appointed.
From December 15, 2006, to July 2007, Beverley Busson
Beverley Busson
Beverley Ann Busson, COM, OBC is a former Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. She was the first female to hold this post from December 16, 2006 to July 16, 2007, and was appointed on a temporary basis in the wake of Giuliano Zaccardelli's resignation amid controversy that erupted...
served as interim Commissioner of the RCMP, making her the first woman to hold the top position in the force. She was replaced by William J.S. Elliott
William J.S. Elliott
William John Shannon Elliott, COM, QC, known commonly as Bill Elliott, is a career civil servant with the Government of Canada and served as the first civillian Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from July 16, 2007 to November 20, 2011...
on July 6, 2007, (Elliott was sworn in on July 16—the first civilian to lead the RCMP.)
A regiment of dragoons
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
awarded the force the status of a regiment of dragoons, entitling it to display the battle honours it had been awarded.
Service in wartime
During the Second Boer WarSecond Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, members of the North-West Mounted Police were given leaves of absence
Leave of absence
Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
to fight with the 2nd Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
, Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR) and Strathcona's Horse. The force raised the Canadian Mounted Rifles, mostly from NWMP members, for service in South Africa. For the CMR's distinguished service there, King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
honoured the NWMP by changing the name to the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) on June 24, 1904.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) conducted border patrols, surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
of enemy alien
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
s, and enforcement of national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
regulations within Canada. However, RNWMP officers also served overseas. On August 6, 1914, a squadron
Squadron (cavalry)
A squadron was historically a cavalry sub unit. It is still used to refer to modern cavalry units but can also be used as a designation for other arms and services.-United States:...
of volunteers from the RNWMP was formed to serve with the Canadian Light Horse in France. In 1918, two more squadrons were raised, A Squadron for service in France and Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and B Squadron for service in the Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force
Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force was a Canadian military force sent to Vladivostok, Russia during the Russian Revolution to bolster the allied presence. Composed of 4,192 soldiers and authorised in August 1918, the force returned to Canada between April and June 1919...
In 1939, No. 1 Provost Company (RCMP), Canadian Provost Corps
Canadian Provost Corps
The Canadian Provost Corps was the military police corps of the Canadian Army. The Canadian Provost Corps was authorized on 15 Jun 1940. The Canadian Provost Corps was amalgamated into the Canadian Forces in 1968.-Canadian Military Police Corps:...
, was raised for service in Europe and served throughout World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as Military Police
Canadian Forces Military Police
The Canadian Forces Military Police provide military police services to the Canadian Forces.Canadian Military Police are unusual in that they are classified as Peace Officers in the Criminal Code of Canada, which gives them the same powers as civilian law enforcement personnel to enforce Acts of...
.
Honours
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were accorded the status of a regiment of Dragoons in 1921, with its first guidon presented in 1935. As a regimentRegiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of dragoons, the RCMP was entitled to wear battle honours for its war service as well as carry a guidon. The RCMP mounted the King's Life Guard at Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.-History:...
in 1937 leading up to the coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
.
Battle honours:
- North West Canada 1885
- South Africa 1900–2
- The Great War: France and FlandersFlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
1918, SiberiaSiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
1918–19 - The Second World War: Europe, 1939–45
Honorary distinction:
- The badge of the Canadian Provost Corps (Military Police)
(presented September 21, 1957 at a Parliament Hill ceremony for contributions to the Corps during the Second World War)
International
The RCMP International Operations Branch assists the Liaison Officer (LO) Program to deter international crime relating to Canadian criminal laws. The IOB is a section of the International Policing, which is part of the RCMP Federal and International Operations Directorate. Thirty-five Liaison Officers are placed in 25 other countries and are responsible for organizing Canadian investigations in other countries, developing and maintaining the exchange of criminal intelligenceCriminal intelligence
Criminal Intelligence is information compiled, analyzed, and/or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity....
, especially national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
with other countries, to provide assistance in investigations that directly affect Canada, to coordinate and assist RCMP officers on foreign business and to represent the RCMP at international meetings.
Liaison Officers are located in:
- Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- Miami
- Mexico City
- BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
- CaracasCaracasCaracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
- BrasíliaBrasíliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
- Santo DomingoSanto DomingoSanto Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
- Port of SpainPort of SpainPort of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
, Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles... - London
- Paris
- Berlin
- The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
- Rome
- New Delhi
- IslamabadIslamabadIslamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
- BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
- RabatRabatRabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
- PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
- AmmanAmmanAmman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
- DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
National
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is organized under the authority of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. In accordance with the Act, it is headed by the Commissioner, who, under the direction of the Minister of Public Safety , has the control and management of the Force and all matters connected therewith.The Commissioner is assisted by a Senior Deputy Commissioner who is second in command of the force. SDC primarily functions to review, consult, or advice agency matters before they are considered by the Commissioner.
Under the Commissioner and Senior Deputy Commissioner, operational direction is provided by Deputy Commissioners in charge of:
- Federal and International Policing
- Police Support Services
- Contract and Aboriginal Policing
- Human Resources
- East
- Ontario (“O” Division)
- National Capital Region (“A” Division)
- National Headquarters,
- Quebec (“C” Division)
- New Brunswick (“J” Division)
- Nova Scotia (“H” Division)
- Prince Edward Island (“L” Division)
- Newfoundland and Labrador (“B” Division)
- West
- British Columbia (“E” Division)
- Alberta (“K” Division)
- Saskatchewan (“F” Division)
- Manitoba (“D” Division)
- Yukon (“M” Division)
- Northwest Territories (“G” Division)
- Nunavut (“V” Division)
Regional
In 1996, the RCMP began moving towards a more regional management system under the direction of deputy commissioners. These are: Pacific, Northwestern, Central and Atlantic. This was done to allow greater grass-roots involvement in decision-making and also allows the RCMP to invest more resources into frontline services.The RCMP divides the country into divisions
Police division
A division was the usual term for the largest territorial subdivision of most British police forces. In major reforms of police organisation in the 1990s divisions of many forces were restructured and retitled Basic Command Units , although some forces continue to refer to them as divisions.The...
for command purposes. In general, each division is coterminous with a province (for example, C Division is Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
). The province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, however, is divided into two divisions: A Division (Ottawa) and O Division (rest of the province). There is one additional division Depot Division, which is the RCMP Academy
RCMP Academy, Depot Division
RCMP Academy, Depot Division has been providing police training to Royal Canadian Mounted Police "cadets" since its establishment in 1885. The facility is located in the west part of Regina, Saskatchewan, near the airport, and consists of several buildings.In the RCMP's early days, Depot had a...
at Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, and the Police Dog Service Training Centre at Bowden, Alberta
Bowden, Alberta
Bowden is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in Red Deer County, south of Red Deer, on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway.- Geography :Nearby communities are Innisfail , James River Bridge , Huxley and Olds ....
. The RCMP headquarters are located in Ottawa, Ontario.
- A Division - National Capital RegionNational Capital Region (Canada)The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....
(Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec) - B Division - Newfoundland and Labrador
- C Division - Quebec
- D Division - Manitoba
- E Division - British Columbia
- F Division - Saskatchewan
- G Division - Northwest Territories
- H Division - Nova Scotia
- J Division - New Brunswick
- K Division - Alberta
- L Division - Prince Edward Island
- M Division - Yukon
- O Division - Ontario
- V Division - Nunavut
- Depot DivisionRCMP Academy, Depot DivisionRCMP Academy, Depot Division has been providing police training to Royal Canadian Mounted Police "cadets" since its establishment in 1885. The facility is located in the west part of Regina, Saskatchewan, near the airport, and consists of several buildings.In the RCMP's early days, Depot had a...
at Regina, Sask.Regina, SaskatchewanRegina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
and Police Dog Service Training Centre at Innisfail, Alberta.Innisfail, AlbertaInnisfail is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, south of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 54....
Personnel
The RCMP employs 28,700 men and women, including police officers, civilian members, and Public Service Employees.Actual Personnel Strength by Ranks:
- Commissioner 1
- Senior Deputy Commissioner 1
- Deputy Commissioner 5
- Assistant Commissioner 26
- Chief Superintendent 56
- Superintendent 186
- Inspector 433
- Corps Sergeant Major 1
- Sergeants Major 6
- Staff Sergeants Major 16
- Staff Sergeants 928
- Sergeants 2,090
- Corporals 3,570
- Constables 11,594
- Special Constables 74
- Civilian Members 3,607
- Public Servants 6,102
- Total 28,700
Regular members
The term "Regular Member," or RM, originates from the RCMP Act and refers to the 17,916 regular RCMP officers who are trained and sworn as Peace OfficerPeace officer
A law enforcement officer , in North America, is any public-sector employee or agent whose duties involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include police officers, prison officers, customs officers, immigration officers, bailiffs, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and...
s, and include all the ranks from Constable to Commissioner. They are the police officers of the RCMP and are responsible for investigating crime and have the authority to make arrests. RMs operate in over 750 detachments, including 200 municipalities and more than 600 Aboriginal communities. RMs are normally assigned to general policing duties at an RCMP detachment for a minimum of three years. These duties will allow them to experience a broad range of assignments and experiences, such as responding to alarms, foot patrol, bicycle patrol, traffic enforcement, collecting evidence at crime scenes, testifying in court, apprehending criminals and plain clothes duties. Regular members also serve in over 150 different types of operational and administrative opportunities available within the RCMP, these include: major crime investigations, emergency response, forensic identification, international peacekeeping, bike or marine patrol, explosives disposal and police dog services. Also included are administrative roles including human resources, corporate planning, policy analysis and public affairs.
Auxiliary constables and other staff
Besides the regular RCMP officers, several types of designations exist which give them assorted powers and responsibilities over policing issues.Currently, there are:
- Auxiliary constables: 2,400
- Community Safety Officers: 16
- Reserve constables : not reported
- Special constables: 63
- Civilian members: 2,978
- Public servants: 4,626
Auxiliary constables (A/Cst.): Volunteers within their own community, appointed under provincial police acts. They are not police officers and can not identify themselves as such. However, they are given peace officer
Peace officer
A law enforcement officer , in North America, is any public-sector employee or agent whose duties involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include police officers, prison officers, customs officers, immigration officers, bailiffs, probation officers, parole officers, auxiliary officers, and...
powers when on duty with a regular member (RM). Their duties consist mainly of assisting the RM in routine events, for eg. cordoning off crime scene areas, crowd control, participating in community policing, assistance during situations where regular members might be overwhelmed with their duties (eg. keep watch of a backseat detainee while RM interviews a victim). They are identified by the wording of 'RCMP Auxiliary' on cars, jackets and shoulder flashes.
Community Safety Officers (CSO): In 2008, a new designation within the RCMP in the Province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
was created based on the UK Police Community Support Officer
Police community support officer
A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...
program. Community Safety Officers are paid, unarmed RCMP staff members with similar RCMP uniform but distinct shoulder crests with baton
Baton (law enforcement)
A truncheon or baton is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, plastic, or metal...
and pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
. CSOs work with regular members in five areas: Community Safety; Crime Prevention; Traffic Support; Community Policing and Investigation Support. They are peace officers but are not police officers.
Reserve constables (R/Cst.): A program reinstated in 2004 in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to allow for retired, regular RCMP members or other provincially trained officers to provide extra manpower when a shortage is identified. R/Cst. are appointed under Section 11 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act as paid part time, armed officers with the same powers as regular members. However, they are not allowed to carry force-issued sidearms and use of force
Use of force
The term use of force describes a right of an individual or authority to settle conflicts or prevent certain actions by applying measures to either: a) dissuade another party from a particular course of action, or b) physically intervene to stop them...
options unless they are called upon to duty. They generally carry out community policing roles but may also be called upon if an emergency occurs.
Special constables (S/Cst.): Employees of RCMP, have varied duties depending on where they are deployed, but are often given this designation because of an expertise they possess which needs to be applied in a certain area. For example, an Aboriginal person might be appointed a special constable in order to assist regular members as they police an Aboriginal community where English is not well understood, and where the special speaks the language well.
- From the early years of policing in northern Canada, and well into the 1950s, local aboriginal people were hired by the RCMP as special constables and were employed as guides and to source and care for sled dog teams. Many of these former special constables still reside in the North to this day and are still involved in regimental functions of the RCMP, especially with Canada's declaration that 2005 be recognized as the "Year of the Veteran".
Civilian members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: While not delegated the powers of police officers, they are instead hired for their specialized scientific, technological, communications and administrative skills. Since the RCMP is a multi-faceted law enforcement organization with responsibilities for federal, provincial and municipal policing duties, it offers employment opportunities for civilian members as professional partners within Canada's national police force.
Civilian members represent approximately 14% of the total RCMP employee population, and are employed within RCMP establishments in most geographical areas of Canada. The following is a list of the most common categories of employment that may be available to interested and qualified individuals.
- Operations
- Telecommunications Operator (DispatcherDispatcherDispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
)
- Telecommunications Operator (Dispatcher
- Scientific
- ToxicologyToxicologyToxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...
- ChemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
- BiologyBiologyBiology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
– DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in... - LawLawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- Toxicology
- Technical
- Forensic Identification Services
- Instrument Technology
- Document ExaminationQuestioned document examinationQuestioned document examination is the forensic science discipline pertaining to documents that are in dispute in a court of law...
- Counterfeit Analysis
- Firearms Technology
- Electronics Technology
- Information TechnologyInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
- CommunicationCommunicationCommunication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s - Computer systems development
- Telecommunications
- Information Services/Public Affairs
- Administrative
- Policy Development & Analysis
- Staff Development & Training
- Human Resource ManagementHuman resource managementHuman Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...
- Human Resource Assessment and Research
- TranslationTranslationTranslation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
- Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME-BC)
Public Service Employees: Also referred to as Public Servants, PSes or PSEs, they provide much of the administrative support for the RCMP in the form of detachment clerks and other administrative support at the headquarters level. They are not police officers, do not wear a uniform, have no police authority and are not bound by the RCMP Act.
Municipal Employees:
Abbreviated as "ME" they are found in RCMP detachments where a contract exists with a municipality to provide front-line policing. MEs are not actually employees of the RCMP, but are instead employed by the local municipality to work in the RCMP detachment. They conduct the same duties that a PSE would and are required to meet the same reliability and security clearance to do so. Many detachment buildings house a combination of municipal and provincially funded detachments, and therefore there are often PSEs and MEs found working together in them.
Ranks
The rank system of the RCMP illustrates their origin as a paramilitaryParamilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
force. The insignia were based upon the Canadian Army of the time, which is almost identical to that of the current British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Higher ranks have been increased over the years since the formation of the force, whereas the rank of inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
, which was initially a subaltern
Subaltern (rank)
A subaltern is a chiefly British military term for a junior officer. Literally meaning "subordinate," subaltern is used to describe commissioned officers below the rank of captain and generally comprises the various grades of lieutenant. In the British Army the senior subaltern rank was...
, is now a field officer
Field officer
A field officer is an army, marine, or air force commissioned officer senior in rank to a company officer but junior to a general officer; in some navies, it is an officer who is a Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or Captain....
level, the lower officer ranks having been dropped. With the military
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
introducing the warrant officer
Warrant Officer
A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
, the RCMP non-commissioned officers were maintained using the older military style.
The numbers are current as of 1 September 2011
| Enlisted Rank Structure of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioned officers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioner Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner is the highest rank of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police , and of its predecessor agencies, the North-West Mounted Police and the Royal Northwest Mounted Police . The Commissioner reports directly to the Minister of Public Safety.The Commissioner of RCMP is the Principal Commander of... /Commissaire 1 |
Deputy Commissioner/Sous-commissaire 9 |
Assistant Commissioner/Commissaire adjoint 25 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Superintendent Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces organised on the British model.- United Kingdom :In the British police, a chief superintendent is senior to a superintendent and junior to an assistant chief constable .The highest rank below Chief Officer level, chief... /Surintendant principal 51 |
Superintendent Superintendent (police) Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police... /Surintendant 186 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inspector Inspector Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :... /Inspecteur 440 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-commissioned officers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corps Sergeant Major/Sergent-major du corps 1 |
Sergeant Major Sergeant Major Sergeants major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In Commonwealth countries, Sergeants Major are usually appointments held by senior non-commissioned officers or warrant officers... /Sergent-major 3 |
Staff Sergeant Major/Sergent-major d'état major 16 |
Staff Sergeant Staff Sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:... /Sergent d'état-major 942 |
Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent.... /Sergent 2,140 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corporal Corporal Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4.... /Caporal 3,672 |
Constable Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:... /Gendarme 11,717 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (no rank badge) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The ranks of inspector and higher are commissioned ranks and are appointed by the Governor-in-Council. Depending on the dress, badges are worn on the shoulder as slip-ons, on shoulder boards, or directly on the epaulette
Epaulette
Epaulette is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations.Epaulettes are fastened to the shoulder by a shoulder strap or "passant", a small strap parallel to the shoulder seam, and the button near the collar, or by laces on the...
s. The lower ranks are non-commissioned officers and the insignia continues to be based on British army patterns. Since 1990, the non-commissioned officers’ rank insignia has been embroidered on the epaulette slip-ons. Non-commissioned rank badges are worn on the right sleeve of the scarlet/blue tunic and blue jacket. The constables wear no rank insignia. There are also special constables, auxiliary constables, and students who wear identifying insignia.
Insignia are as follows:
- Commissioner (crown over bath star over crossed sword and baton)
- Deputy Commissioner (crown over crossed sword and baton)
- Assistant Commissioner (crown over three bath stars in a triangular formation)
- Chief Superintendent (crown over two bath stars)
- Superintendent (crown over bath star)
- Inspector (crown)
- Corps Sergeant Major (coat of arms of Canada)
- Sergeant Major (crown over four upward-pointing chevrons)
- Staff Sergeant Major (wreathed crown)
- Staff Sergeant (four downward-pointing chevrons)
- Sergeant (crown over three upward-pointing chevrons)
- Corporal (two upward-pointing chevrons)
Land fleet
RCMP Land Transport Fleet Inventory includes:- Cars: 5,600
- Trucks: 2,350
- Motorcycles: 34
- Small snowmobiles: 481
- All-terrain vehicles: 181
- Gas railway car: 1
- Tractors: 27
- Buses: 3
- Total: 8,677
Many of the following vehicles have been used by the RCMP as marked and unmarked police vehicles:
- Chevrolet CapriceChevrolet CapriceThe Chevrolet Caprice is a full-sized automobile produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors in North America for the 1965 through 1996 model years. Full-size Chevrolet sales peaked in 1965 with over a million sold. It was the most popular American car in the sixties and early seventies....
- Chevrolet Camaro B4C
- Chevrolet ImpalaChevrolet ImpalaThe Chevrolet Impala is a full-size automobile built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced for the 1958 model year. Deriving its name from the southern African antelope, Chevrolet's most expensive passenger model through 1965 had become the best-selling automobile in the United...
- Chevrolet SilveradoChevrolet SilveradoThe Chevrolet Silverado , is the latest line of full-size pickup trucks from General Motors.-History:...
- Chevrolet SuburbanChevrolet SuburbanChevrolet offered a station wagon body, built on the 1/2 ton truck frame. This model was specifically built for National Guard units and Civilian Conservation Corps units. Much of the body was constructed from wood, and could seat up to eight occupants....
- Chevrolet TahoeChevrolet TahoeThe Chevrolet Tahoe are full-size SUVs from General Motors. Chevrolet and GMC sold two different-sized SUVs under their Blazer/Jimmy model names through the early 1990s. This situation changed when GMC rebadged the full-size Jimmy as the Yukon in 1992...
- Ford Crown Victoria Police InterceptorFord Crown Victoria Police InterceptorThough the name has been officially in use since 1992, the 1978–1991 full-size LTDs and LTD Crown Victorias and 1992 updated body style used the "P72" production code designation for both fleet/taxi and police models, with the model itself being internally classified as S...
- Ford EscapeFord EscapeThe Ford Escape is a compact SUV sold by the automaker Ford Motor Company introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model year and priced below the Ford Explorer. Although technically it's a crossover vehicle, it is marketed by Ford as part of its traditional SUV lineup rather than its separate crossover lineup...
- Ford ExpeditionFord ExpeditionThe Ford Expedition is a full-size SUV built by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1997 as a replacement to the Ford Bronco, it was previously slotted between the smaller Ford Explorer and the larger Ford Excursion, but as of the 2005 model year, it is Ford's largest and last truck-based,...
- Ford ExplorerFord ExplorerThe Ford Explorer is a sport-utility vehicle sold in North America and built by the Ford Motor Company since 1990, as a replacement for the smaller but related Ford Bronco II. It is manufactured in Chicago, Illinois...
- Ford Mustang SSPFord Mustang SSPThe Ford Mustang SSP was a lightweight police car package based on the Ford Mustang produced between 1982-1993. The car was meant to provide a speedier option for police departments in lieu of other full sized sedans on the market at the time. The SSP abbreviation means Special Service Package,...
- Ford Super DutyFord Super DutyFor the 1999 model year, Ford shifted the F-250 and F-350 truck lines to a design mechanically and cosmetically distinct from that of the F-150. The F-350 was not available for 1998, while the F-250 was available that year with the F-150's body...
- PT Cruiser
- Toyota CamryToyota CamryThe Toyota Camry is a series of mid-size automobiles manufactured by Toyota since 1982, and sold in the majority of automotive markets throughout the world...
- Toyota PriusToyota PriusThe Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...
- Honda CivicHonda CivicThe Honda Civic is a line of subcompact and subsequently compact cars made and manufactured by Honda. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded...
- Smart FortwoSmart FortwoThe Smart Fortwo is a rear-engined two-seater city car manufactured by Smart GmbH, introduced at the 1998 Paris Motor Show as the Smart City Coupé, and currently in its second generation...
Marine craft
The RCMP is responsible for policing in Canadian Internal WatersCanadian Internal Waters
Canadian Internal Waters is a Canadian term that refers to "...the waters on the landward side of the baselines of the territorial sea of Canada,..."....
, including the territorial sea and contiguous zone as well as the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and St. Lawrence Seaway; such operations are provided by the RCMP's Federal Services Directorate and includes enforcing Canada's environment, fisheries, customs and immigration laws. In provinces and municipalities where the RCMP performs contract policing, the force is also responsible for policing on freshwater lakes and rivers.
To meet these challenges, the RCMP operates what is known as the Marine Division, with five Robert Allan Ltd.
Robert Allan Ltd.
Robert Allan Ltd. is Canada's oldest privately owned consulting Naval Architectural firm, established in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1930. Their experience includes designs for hundreds of vessels of almost all types, from small fishing boats to ocean-going ferries, however the firm is best...
–designed high-speed catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
patrol vessels; Inkster and the Commissioner-class Nadon, Higgitt, Lindsay and Simmonds, based on all three coasts and manned by officers specially trained in maritime enforcement. Inkster is based in Prince Rupert, BC, Simmonds is stationed on the south coast of Newfoundland, and the rest are located on the Pacific Coast. The boats have the RCMP badge, but are painted with Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
colours and marking Coast Guard Police.
The RCMP owns and operates 377 smaller boats at various locations across Canada, this number comprising all vessels less than 9.2 metres (30.2 ft) long. This category ranges from from canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s and car toppers to rigid-hulled inflatables and stable, commercially built, inboard/outboard vessels. Individual detachments often have smaller high-speed rigid-hulled inflatable boat
Rigid-hulled inflatable boat
A rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...
s and other purpose-built vessels for inland waters, some of which can be hauled by road to the nearest launching point.
