History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, A.K.A. The RCMP.

Essay by HonkeyHigh School, 12th gradeB+, January 2004

download word file, 6 pages 3.0

Downloaded 48 times

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are the Canadian national police service and an agency of the Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada. The RCMP is unique in the world since it is a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. They provide a total federal policing service to all Canadians and policing services under contract to the three territories, eight provinces (except Ontario and Quebec), and approximately 198 municipalities and, under 172 individual agreements, to 192 First Nations communities. The early role was to have general law enforcement detachments established throughout the prairies and a patrol system instituted in order to police effectively the entire region establish friendly relations with the First Nations contain the whisky trade and enforce prohibition, supervise treaties between First Nations and the federal government The R.C.M.P. Assisted the settlement process by ensuring the welfare of immigrants, fighting prairie fires, disease and destitution. Between 1895 and 1920 the R.C.M.P.

expanded dramatically. Mounted Police jurisdiction extended to the Yukon in 1895 and to the Arctic coast in 1903. There were a number of battles fought in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, Duck Lake, Fort Pitt, Cut Knife Hill and the pursuit of Big Bear. The prefix "Royal" was 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. Provincial policing contracts terminated in 1917, and the RNWMP were now responsible for federal law enforcement only in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories. In 1918, however, enforcement extended to all four western provinces in 1920, federal policing was reorganized, the RNWMP absorbed the Dominion Police and become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Responsibility for federal law enforcement extended to all...