This week in Prince George history, Aug. 28 to Sept. 3:
Sept. 3, 1919: The Mounties arrived in Prince George, The Citizen reported.
"In line with the general policy of the Dominion government, three members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police are now stationed in Prince George," the report said. "Corporal Laurent, an old-timer in the force and formerly of the Yukon division at Whitehorse, is in charge. Official quarters have yet to be secured and the men are temporarily housed at the Alexandria Hotel."
One member of the detachment was still on route to the city, and was expected to arrive with the detachment's horses the following week. The Prince George detachment was to answer to Insp. Ackland based in Prince Rupert, who was expected to visit the Prince George detachment on a monthly basis.
The B.C. division of the RNWMP was to be known as E Division, under the command of Superintendent Fitz Horrigan in Vancouver.
Another detachment in the north was to be established in Hazelton.
"While the provincial police still continues in its old capacity, the RNWMP will naturally assist them whenever possible," The Citizen reported. "Their specific duties, however, are in connection with the Military Service Act and propaganda of a Bolshevic nature."
The early history of policing in Prince George is a bit convoluted but, after a little detective work of my own, here is what I found:
The City of Prince George had its own municipal police force - overseen by a locally-elected police commission - from the city's incorporation in 1915 until 1926. At the time the force was dissolved, it consisted of two full-time and three part-time police officers.
In 1925, Mayor Roy Alward and B.C. Provincial Police Supt. J.H. McMullin signed a tentative deal for the provincial police to provide three additional officers to its detachment in the city in order to take over policing within city limits. The cost of the contract was $4,750 per year, according to Citizen reports at the time.
On Jan. 14, 1926 Prince George voters approved the move in a plebiscite by a vote of 265 to 100, with 15 spoiled ballots.
The move was controversial, with several city alderman opposed to giving up direct control of policing in the city. Alward argued that the provincial force was a larger, more professional organization and the arrangement would save the city money and reduce the number of overlapping police jurisdictions in the city. From 1919 to 1926, Prince George had three police forces operating independently out of the city: the RCMP, municipal police force and B.C. Provincial Police.
Many British Columbians aren't aware that the British Columbia Provincial Police were responsible for law enforcement in the province until 1950. The British Columbia Constabulary were established in 1858 - pre-dating the RNWMP by 15 years and Canadian confederation by nine years - and when the Colony of B.C. joined Canada in 1871, the force became the provincial police force.
The BCPP was a rather unusual police force. Until 1923, the force had no standard uniform and officers all wore plain clothes. After a reorganization in 1923, BCPP officers were issued a khaki uniform with green details, flat-brimmed Stetson hats and Sam Browne-style belts, and a paramilitary style ranking system was introduced.
The reorganization in the 1920s also introduced a criminal investigation department. Prior to the formation of the department, the BCPP contracted private detectives - like the Pinkerton agency -to conduct criminal investigations and police surveillance.
In 1919, Parliament voted to merge the Royal North-West Mounted Police with the Dominion Police, a federal police force based in Eastern Canada. The legislation came into effect on Feb. 1, 1920, naming the new national police force the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But it wasn't until 1950 when the B.C. Provincial Police were absorbed into the RCMP's E Division.
When the RCMP took over for the B.C. Provincial Police in 1950, the RCMP also took over municipal policing in the city. City councils have been complaining about the cost of that service ever since 1951, according to Citizen reports.
The RCMP has served and protected Prince George for 97 years. Perhaps the city should celebrate the Mounties' centennial of service in 2019 by increasing their budget to give them the resources and manpower they need to reduce the city's rampant crime problem. Or maybe just a nice cake...
To explore 100 years of local history yourself, visit the Prince George Citizen archives online at: pgc.cc/PGCarchive. The Prince George Citizen online archives are maintained by the Prince George Public Library.
