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A Brief History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(as found via a little research on the web)
A. Origins
Conception: Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister and Minister of Justice
Inspiration: the Royal Irish Constabulary and the mounted rifle units of the United States Army
Objective: to bring law, order, and Canadian authority to the North-West Territories (present-day
Alberta and Saskatchewan)
Legal authority: Act of Parliament (36 Vic, ch 35), May 23, 1873; Order in Council 1134, August 30, 1873
Organization: appointment of officers and recruitment for the North-West Mounted Police
(NWMP) commenced September 25, 1873 and concluded in the spring of 1874
Deployment: the great "March West", approximately 275 officers and men, with horses and equipment, departed Dufferin, Manitoba, on July 8, 1874 and arrived in
present-day southern Alberta, in October
B. Early role, 1874-1905
General law enforcement, detachments were established throughout the prairies, and a patrol system instituted in order to police effectively the entire region
Established friendly relations with the First Nations, contained the whisky trade and enforced prohibition, supervised treaties between First Nations and the federal government
Assisted the settlement process by ensuring the welfare of immigrants, fighting prairie fires, disease and destitution
C. Expansion and Reorganization, 1895-1920
Mounted Police jurisdiction extended to the Yukon in 1895 and to the Arctic coast in 1903
Prefix "Royal" conferred on the NWMP by King Edward VII in June 1904
Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) contracted to police the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905
Mounted Police responsibilities extended to northern Manitoba in 1912
First World War: border patrols, surveillance of enemy aliens, enforcement of national security regulations
Provincial policing contracts terminated in 1917, RNWMP was now responsible for federal law
enforcement only in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories; in 1918, however, this was
extended to all four western provinces
In 1920, federal policing is reorganized, the RNWMP absorb the Dominion Police and become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); responsibility for federal law enforcement extended to all provinces and territories
D. Development of the RCMP, 1920-1994
The RCMP return to provincial policing in 1928 under contract to Saskatchewan
Detachments established in the eastern and high Arctic in the 1920s to protect Canadian sovereignty in the region
Provincial policing responsibilities assumed in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, 1932
Men and vessels of the Preventive Service, National Revenue, are absorbed in 1932, thus creating the RCMP Marine Section
Development of "national police services" in the 1930s, including fingerprints, crime index, firearms registration, photo section, forensic laboratory
Transportation and communication improvements: cars, trucks, motorcycles, ships, aircraft, telephones, radio
The RCMP supply vessel, ST. ROCH, makes her historic voyage through the North-West Passage, 1940-1942
Protection of national security during the Second World War, 1939-1945
Provincial policing contracts extended to include British Columbia and Newfoundland in 1950
Expansion and evolution of RCMP security operations: Special Branch, 1950, Directorate of Security and Intelligence, 1962, Security Service, 1970; creation of a separate agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), 1984
The Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) established in 1972
Expansion of duties and responsibilities in the 1970s: airport policing, VIP security, drug enforcement, economic crime
First women recruited as uniformed regular members, September 1974
Expansion of international police duties, 1990s: Namibia, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Kosovo, Bosnia/Herzegovina, East Timor, Guatemala, Croatia, Western Sahara
E. Military Record
Northwest Rebellion, 1885: Duck lake, Fort Pitt, Cut Knife Hill, pursuit of Big Bear
South African War, 1899-1902: members represented in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles and Lord Strathcona's Horse; in all, over 250 members served in the Canadian contingents and in the South African Constabulary
First World War, 1914-1918: cavalry squadrons provided for overseas service, "A" Squadron (England, France and Belgium), "B" Squadron (Siberia)
Second World War, 1939-1945: RCMP Marine and Air Section personnel transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force, 1939; creation of No. 1 Provost Company for military police duties overseas
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