Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gendarmerie royale du Canada (French)
Heraldic badge of the RCMP
Shoulder flash of the RCMP
Ensign
Abbreviation	RCMP/GRC
Motto	Maintiens le droit "Defending the Law"[1][2]
Agency overview
Formed	1 February 1920; 98 years ago (1920-02-01)[3]
Preceding agencies	Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) (1904) North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) (23 May 1873) Dominion Police (1868)
Employees	28,461 (2015)
Volunteers	Approximately 1,600 Auxiliary Constables[4]
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency	Canada
Operations jurisdiction	Canada
Constituting instruments	Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act Provincial Police Acts
General nature	• Federal law enforcement• Gendarmerie• Local civilian police
Headquarters	M. J. Nadon Government of Canada Building 73 Leikin Drive Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R2[5]
Sworn members	22,130[6] (Sept. 2015) Commissioner: 1 Deputy Commissioners: 7 Assistant Commissioners: 26 Chief Superintendents: 58 Superintendents: 179 Inspectors: 348 Corps Sergeant Major: 1 Sergeants Major: 1 Staff Sergeants Major: 13 Staff Sergeants: 812 Sergeants: 1,923 Corporals: 3,377 Constables: 11,491 Special Constables: 55 Civilian Members: 3,838
Unsworn members	6,331[6] (Sept. 2015) Public Servants: 6,331
Elected officer responsible	The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety
Agency executives	Queen Elizabeth II, Commissioner-in-Chief Charles, Prince of Wales, Honorary Commissioner Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Honorary Deputy Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Commissioner
Parent agency	Public Safety Canada
Divisions	15[6] National Division: National Capital Region 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 Division: Regina, Saskatchewan
Facilities
Detachments	712[7]  Alberta: 119  British Columbia: 154  Manitoba: 88  New Brunswick: 44  Newfoundland: 43  Northwest Territories: 22  Nova Scotia: 53  Nunavut: 26  Ontario: 16  Prince Edward Island: 6  Quebec: 14  Saskatchewan: 113  Yukon: 14
Vehicles	8,677 Cars: 5,600 Trucks: 2,350 Motorcycles: 34 Snowmobiles: 481 All-terrain vehicles: 181
Patrol vessels	5
Fixed-wings	26[8]
Helicopters	9[8]
Notables
Significant operation(s)	Mayerthorpe tragedy Spiritwood Incident 2014 Moncton shootings
Awards	Battle honours Canadian Newsmaker of the Year (2007)
Website
www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca
While a federal agency, the RCMP also provides direct policing to dependent[clarification needed] territories.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; French: Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC), "Royal Gendarmerie of Canada"; colloquially known as the Mounties, and internally as "the Force") is the federal and national police force of Canada. The RCMP provides law enforcement at the federal level. It also provides provincial policing in eight of Canada's provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan) and local policing on contract basis in the three territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon) and more than 150 municipalities, 600 aboriginal communities, and three international airports. The RCMP does not provide provincial or municipal policing in either Ontario or Quebec.^[9]

Overview[edit]

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was formed in 1920 by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP), founded in 1873, with the Dominion Police founded in 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 and RNWMP, including the distinctive Red Serge uniform, paramilitary heritage, and mythos as a frontier force. The RCMP-GRC wording is protected under the Trade-marks Act.^[10]

Despite its name, the RCMP is not an actual mounted police force, with horses only being used at ceremonial events. The predecessor NWMP and RNWMP had relied on horses for transport for most of their history, though the RNWMP was switching to automobiles at the time of the merger.

As Canada's national police force, the RCMP 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. Larger cities may form their own municipal police departments.

The two most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, maintain provincial forces: the Ontario Provincial Police and Sûreté du Québec. The other eight provinces contract policing responsibilities to the RCMP. The RCMP provides front-line policing in those provinces under the direction of the provincial governments. When Newfoundland joined the confederation in 1949, the RCMP entered the province and absorbed the then Newfoundland Ranger Force, which patrolled most of Newfoundland's rural areas. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary patrols urban areas of the province. In the territories, the RCMP is the sole territorial police force. Many municipalities throughout Canada contract to the RCMP. Thus, the RCMP polices at the federal, provincial, and municipal level. In several areas of Canada, it is the only police force.

The RCMP is responsible for an unusually large breadth of duties. Under their federal mandate, the RCMP police 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, British Columbia (population 468,251+). There, support units investigate for their own detachments, and smaller municipal police forces. Investigations include major crimes, homicides, forensic identification, collision forensics, police dogs, emergency response teams, explosives disposal, and undercover operations. Under its National Police Services branch the RCMP supports all police forces in Canada via the Canadian Police Information Centre, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, Forensic Science and Identification Services, Canadian Firearms Program, and the Canadian Police College.

The RCMP Security Service was a specialized political intelligence and counterintelligence branch with national security responsibilities, replaced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in 1984, following revelations of illegal covert operations relating to the Quebec separatist movement.^[11] CSIS is not part of the RCMP, but is its own entity.

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald first began planning a permanent force to patrol the North-West Territories after the Dominion of Canada purchased the territory from the Hudson's Bay Company. Reports from Army officers surveying the territory led to the recommendation that a mounted force of between 100 to 150 mounted riflemen could maintain law and order. The Prime Minister first announced the force as the North West Mounted Rifles. However, officials in the United States raised concerns that an armed force along the border was a prelude to a military buildup. Macdonald then renamed the force the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) when formed in 1873.^[12]

The force added "Royal" to its name in 1904. It merged with the Dominion Police, the main police force for all points east of Manitoba, in 1920 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 established 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 infiltrated ethnic or political groups considered to be dangerous to Canada. 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.^[13] The Chinese community was also targeted because of a perceived link to opium dens. Historians estimate fully two percent of the Chinese community was deported between 1923 and 1932, largely under the provisions of the Opium and Narcotics Drugs Act (ONDA).^[14] Besides the RCMP's new responsibilities in intelligence, drugs enforcement, and immigration, the force also assisted numerous other federal agencies with tasks such as enforcing the residential school system for Aboriginal 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 relief camps, therefore failed to reach Ottawa, but nevertheless had profound political reverberations.

The RCMP employed special constables 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 some Canadian provinces, the courthouses.

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).^[15]

Counterintelligence work was moved from the RCMP's Criminal Investigation Department to a specialized intelligence branch, the RCMP Security Service, in 1939.

Post-war[edit]

On April 1, 1949, Newfoundland joined in full confederation with Canada and the Newfoundland Ranger Force 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.^[16]

In June 1953, the RCMP became an full member of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).^[17]

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.^[18]

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 favour of the creation of a separate intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

Modern era[edit]

In 1993, the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT), were transferred to the Canadian Forces (CF), creating a new unit called Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2). JTF2 inherited some equipment and SERT's former training base near Ottawa.

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 US 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.^[19]

On December 6, 2006, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned after admitting that his earlier testimony about the Maher Arar terrorist case was inaccurate. The RCMP's actions were scrutinized by the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar.

Two officers were found guilty of perjury and sentenced to jail for their actions in the 2007 Robert Dziekański Taser incident in Vancouver.

In 2007, the RCMP was named Newsmaker of the Year by The Canadian Press.^[20]

On June 3, 2013, the RCMP renamed its 'A' Division to National Division and tasked it with handling corruption cases "at home and abroad".^[21]

Notable cases[edit]

• The American stagecoach robber Bill Miner was captured by the RCMP in 1906.^[22]
• Albert Johnson, known as the Mad Trapper of Rat River, was killed in a shoot-out with the RCMP in 1932.^[22]
• RCMP officers in Saskatchewan arrested the perpetrator of the Shell Lake murders in 1967.
• Anarchist militants known as the Squamish Five were arrested by the RCMP in 1983.
• The suspected driver of the reconnaissance vehicle involved in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing fled to Canada where he was arrested by the RCMP in the winter of 1997 and was extradited to the United States.
• Four RCMP officers were fatally shot during an operation in Alberta in March 2005: the Mayerthorpe tragedy was the single worst multiple killing of RCMP officers since the killing of 3 officers in Kamloops British Columbia by a mentally ill assailant. Prior to that the Force had not felt such a loss since the North-West Rebellion.^[23]
• In July 2007, two RCMP officers were shot dead in the Spiritwood Incident near Mildred, Saskatchewan.
• Three RCMP officers were murdered during the 2014 Moncton shootings in New Brunswick.^[24]
• The perpetrator of the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa was shot and killed at the scene by the RCMP.

History of the RCMP uniform[edit]

The RCMP are famous for their distinctive dress uniform, or "Review Order," popularly known as the "Red Serge." It has a high collared scarlet tunic, midnight blue breeches with yellow leg stripe, Sam Browne belt with 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). Members wear the Review Order during the Musical Ride, an equestrian drill in which mounted members show their riding skills and handling of the cavalry lance. On normal duties, the RCMP uses standard police methods, equipment, and uniforms. The RCMP uses horses for ceremonial operations such as escorting the Governor General's open landau to the Opening of Parliament.

Tunic[edit]

The Red Serge tunic that identified the NWMP and later the RNWMP and RCMP, is the standard British military pattern (based on the civilian Norfolk jacket^[25]). Originally kitted from militia stores, the NWMP later adopted a standard style that emphasized the force's British heritage and differentiated it from the blue American military uniforms. In 1904, dark blue shoulder straps and collars replaced the uniform's scarlet facings^[26] when King Edward VII granted the Force "Royal" status for its service in the Second Boer War. Today, RCMP personnel under the rank of inspector wear blue "gorget" patches on the collar, while officers from inspector to commissioner wear solid blue collars and blue pointed-sleeve cuffs.

Members once wore a white haversack on top of this jacket and white gauntlets,^[25] which contrasted with the red tunic. The modern dress uniform replaces these easily-dirtied items with brown leather riding gloves and carrying pouches on the belt.

Hat[edit]

Although the NWMP contingent at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee wore the flat-brimmed Stetson, the RCMP did not adopt it until about 1904. The original primary summer headdress was the white British foreign service helmet, also known as a pith helmet. This was an impractical choice for the Canadian west, and RCMP 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 Lord Strathcona's Horse in South Africa, his unit adopted the Stetson. During winter, members wore a Canadian military fur wedge cap or busby. In British Columbia, the hat features a black bearskin rim belt.

Breeches[edit]

The NWMP wore buff or steel grey breeches^[25] until they adopted dark blue breeches with yellow-gold strapping (stripes). Members often exchanged kit with U.S. cavalry units, and while some believe this was the source for the breeches, the NWMP considered adopting blue breeches with a white strap. Dark blue with yellow-gold strapping is a British cavalry tradition, and most cavalry (later armoured) regiments' dress uniforms feature yellow stripes.

Boots[edit]

Black riding boots changed to the modern brown style called "Strathcona Boots" or informally as "high browns" (See link to Lord Strathcona's Horse) and the original crossbelts changed to the brown Sam Browne type. The brown colour of the boots and belt the RCMP wear with the Red Serge are from members who applied coats of polish, often during training at Depot Division.

Spurs[edit]

The RCMP's original spurs, known as "long shank spurs," were solid nickel. Their owners occasionally had their regimental number engraved on the inside, and some replaced the rowel with a US buffalo nickel^{[citation needed]} to complement the Mounted Police capbadge and avoid using a Canadian coin that would deface the monarch. The RCMP last issued long shank spurs in 1968.

Sidearms are standard now, but were often not worn in the early years.^{[citation needed]}

Operational uniform[edit]

The operational uniform is 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. Members on operational duty wear a blue Gore-Tex open-collar jacket (patrol jacket), while sergeants major and certain non-commissioned officers (NCOs) involved in recruit training or media relations wear a dark blue jacket (blue serge). Depending on their duties, officers wear white shirts and the patrol jacket or blue serge. During the summer, officers wear a tie with a short-sleeved shirt, and other members wear short-sleeved shirts. Winter dress is a long-sleeved shirt without tie for all members except officers, who wear a tie with the long-sleeved shirt. In colder weather, members may wear heavier boots, winter coats (storm coats) and a fur cap.

In 1990, Baltej Singh Dhillon became the RCMP's first Sikh officer to be allowed to wear a turban instead of the traditional Stetson.^[27] On March 15, the federal government, despite protests, decided they would allow Sikhs to wear their religious headgear while on duty as RCMP officers, as had been the practice for Sikh members of Canadian Forces for decades.

Despite ongoing pressure from groups such as the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals,^[28] the RCMP uses muskrat fur in their winter dress uniform. The RCMP originally decided not to use fur, but the government overruled them.

Decorations[edit]

The RCMP awards its Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Service Medal to members who have completed 20 years' service. A clasp is awarded for each successive 5 years to 40 years. Members also receive a Service Badge star for each five years' service, which is worn on the left sleeve. There are specialist insignia for positions such as first aid instructor and dog handler, and pilot's wings are worn by aviators. Sharpshooter badges for proficiency in pistol or rifle shooting are each awarded in two grades.^[29]

Women in the RCMP[edit]

On May 23, 1974, RCMP Commissioner Maurice Nadon announced that the RCMP would accept applications from women as regular members of the force. Troop 17 was the first group of 32 females at Depot in Regina on September 18 and 19, 1974 for regular training. This first all-female troop graduated from Depot on March 3, 1975.

After initially wearing different unflattering uniforms, women officers were finally issued the standard RCMP uniforms. Now all officers are identically attired, with two exceptions. The ceremonial dress uniform, or "walking-out order", for female members has a long, blue skirt and higher-heeled slip-on pumps plus small black clutch purse (however, in 2012 the RCMP began to allow women to wear trousers and boots with all their formal uniforms.^[30]) The second exception is the official maternity uniform for pregnant female officers assigned to administrative duties.

The following years saw the first women attain certain positions.

• 1981: corporal, musical ride
• 1987: foreign post
• 1990: detachment commander
• 1992: commissioned officer
• 1998: Assistant Commissioner
• 2000: Deputy Commissioner
• 2018: Commissioner

Beverley Busson was the first woman to have held the top position in the force, albeit on an interim basis. She served as the interim Commissioner from December 15, 2006, to July 6, 2007.^[31][32] The first female commissioner Brenda Lucki was appointed on March 9, 2018, to be officially sworn into office on April 16, 2018.^[33]

Military status[edit]

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gendarmerie royale du Canada
Guidon of the RCMP
Active	1873–present
Country	Canada
Type	Dragoons
Size	15 divisions
Garrison/HQ	RHQ—Ottawa
Nickname(s)	The Mounties
Motto(s)	Maintiens le droit (Defending the law)[2][34]
Battle honours	see Battle honours
Commanders
Current commander	Brenda Lucki (Commissioner)
Commissioner-in-Chief	HM The Queen
Honorary Commissioner	HRH The Prince of Wales[35]
Honorary Deputy Commissioner	HRH The Earl of Wessex[36]
Insignia
Tartan	RCMP
Abbreviation	RCMP/GRC

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.

Service in wartime[edit]

During the Second Boer War, members of the North-West Mounted Police were given leaves of absence to join 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 the First World War, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) conducted border patrols, surveillance of enemy aliens, 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 September 1939, at the outset of the Second World War, the Canadian Army had no military police. Five days after war was declared the Royal Canadian Mounted Police received permission to form a Provost Company of Force volunteers. It was designated No. 1 Provost Company (RCMP), and became the Canadian Provost Corps. Six months after war was declared its members were overseas in Europe and served throughout the Second World War as military police.

Honours[edit]

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were accorded the status of a regiment of Dragoons in 1921. As a cavalry regiment, the RCMP was entitled to wear battle honours for its war service as well as carry a guidon, with its first guidon presented in 1935.^[37][38] The RCMP mounted the King's Life Guard at Horse Guards Parade in 1937 leading up to the coronation of King George VI. The RCMP mounted the Queen's Life Guard in May 2012 during celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.^[39]

Battle honours

• North West Canada 1885
• South Africa 1900–02
• The Great War: France and Flanders 1918, Siberia 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

Legacy[edit]

In 1975, the RCMP dedicated a memorial beside the Fred Light Museum in Battleford, Saskatchewan, consisting of a cemetery with gate, cairn and list of honour plaque to the members of the North-West Mounted Police (1873–1904) and the RCMP.^[40]

Organization[edit]

International[edit]

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-seven Liaison Officers are placed in 23 other countries and are responsible for organizing Canadian investigations in other countries, developing and maintaining the exchange of criminal intelligence, 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.^[41] Liaison Officers are located in:

The RCMP was a member agency in the Afghan Threat Finance Cell, and RCMP officers were embedded with military units in Afghanistan.^[42]

National[edit]

The RCMP 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 RCMP is provided with a senior executive committee (SEC) which^[43]

“

is the senior decision making forum established by the Commissioner for the development and approval of strategic, force-wide policies, pursuant to and consistent with the Commissioner's authority under section 5 of the RCMP Act. The role of [the] SEC is to develop, promote and communicate strategic priorities, strategic objectives, management strategies and performance management for the purpose of direction and accountability.

”

The Commissioner is assisted by Deputy Commissioners in charge of:^[44]

• Federal and International Policing
• Police Support Services
• Contract and Aboriginal Policing
• Human Resources
• East
  • Ontario ("O" Division)
  • National Division (Formerly "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)

Divisions[edit]

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: National 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^[45] at Innisfail, Alberta. The RCMP headquarters are located in Ottawa, Ontario.

• National Division (formerly A Division): National Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec)^[46]
• B Division: Newfoundland and Labrador^[47]
• C Division: Quebec^[48]
• D Division: Manitoba^[48]
• E Division: British Columbia^[49]
• F Division: Saskatchewan^[50]
• G Division: Northwest Territories^[51]
• H Division: Nova Scotia^[52]
• J Division: New Brunswick^[53]
• K Division: Alberta^[54]
• L Division: Prince Edward Island^[55]
• M Division: Yukon^[56]
• O Division: Ontario^[57]
• V Division: Nunavut^[58]
• Depot Division at Regina and the Police Dog Service Training Centre^[45] at Innisfail.

Detachments[edit]

A detachment is a section of the RCMP which polices a local area. Detachments vary greatly in size. The largest single RCMP detachment is in the City of Surrey in British Columbia, with over a thousand employees. Surrey has contracted with the RCMP for policing services since 1951.^[59] The second-largest RCMP detachment is in Burnaby, also in British Columbia.^[60] Conversely, detachments in small, isolated rural communities have as few as three officers. The RCMP formerly had many single-officer detachments in these areas,^[61][62] but in 2012 the RCMP announced that it was introducing a requirement that detachments should have at least three officers.^[62]

Personal Protection Group[edit]

The Personal Protection Group or PPG is a 180-member group responsible for security details for VIPs, the prime minister, and the governor general.^[63] It was created after the 1995 incident at 24 Sussex Drive.^[64]

Units under the PPG consists of:

• Prime Minister Protective Detail provides bodyguards to protect the Prime Minister of Canada in Canada and abroad. This unit is based in Ottawa with operations at 24 Sussex Drive and Harrington Lake near Chelsea, Quebec.
• Governor General’s Protection Detail provides bodyguards to protect the Governor General of Canada in Canada and abroad. This unit is based in Ottawa with operations at Rideau Hall.
• Very Important Persons Security Section (VIPSS) provides security details to VIP (including the Chief Justice of Canada, federal ministers, and diplomats) and others under the direction of the Minister of Public Safety.

RCMP Band[edit]

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Band was considered one of the best professional bands assembled in Canada. It operated from 1938 to 1994.^[65]

Personnel[edit]

As of September 1, 2015^[update], the RCMP employed 28,461 men and women, including police officers, civilian members, and Public Service Employees.^[6]

Actual personnel strength by ranks:

• Commissioner 1
• Deputy commissioner 7
• Assistant commissioner 26
• Chief superintendent 58
• Superintendent 179
• Inspector 345
• Corps sergeant major 1
• Sergeants major 1
• Staff sergeants major 13
• Staff sergeants 812
• Sergeants 1,923
• Corporals 3,377
• Constables 11,491
• Special constables 55
• Civilian members 3,838
• Public servants 6,331
• Total 28,461

Regular members[edit]

The term regular member, or RM, originates from the RCMP Act and refers to the 18,988 regular RCMP officers who are trained and sworn as peace officers, 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 allow them to experience a broad range of assignments and experiences, such as responding to emergency (9-1-1) calls, 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, forensic collision reconstruction, 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[edit]

Besides the regular RCMP officers, several types of designations exist which give them assorted powers and responsibilities over policing issues.

Currently, there are:

• Community Constables: not reported
• Reserve Constables : Approximately 100 in British Columbia^[66]
• Auxiliary Constables: 2,400+^[67]
• Community Safety Officers: 16
• Aboriginal Community Constables: 7^[68]
• Special Constables: 78^[6]
• Civilian Members: 3,760^[6]
• Public servants: 6,194^[6]

Community Constables (CC)

A new designation introduced in 2014 as a replacement to the Community Safety Officers & Aboriginal Community Constables pilot programs.^[69][70] Community Constables are armed, paid members holding the rank of Special Constables, with peace officer power.^[71] They are to provide a bridge between the local citizens and the RCMP using their local and cultural knowledge^[72] They will mostly be focused on crime prevention, liaison with the community, and to provide resources in the event of a large-scale event.^[73]

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.^[74] 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.^[75] However, they are not allowed to carry force-issued sidearms and use of force options unless they are called upon to duty.^[74] They generally carry out community policing roles but may also be called upon if an emergency occurs.^[74][76]

Auxiliary constables (A/Cst.)

Volunteers within their own community, appointed under provincial police acts.^[67] 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 example cordoning off crime scene areas, crowd control, participating in community policing, assistance during situations where regular members might be overwhelmed with their duties (e.g., 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 pilot designation within the RCMP in 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 badges with baton, pepper spray and handcuffs.^[77][78] CSOs work with regular members in five areas: community safety; crime prevention; traffic support; community policing and investigation support.^[79] They are peace officers but are not police officers.^[80] CSOs are appointed as special constable under the RCMP Act.^[81] The CSO program is scheduled to be dismantled in 2015.^[70]

Aboriginal Community Constables (ACC)

A pilot program that began in April 2011 where ACCs are armed, uniformed peace officers who are engaged in policing activities in their home First Nations and Inuit communities in Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Alberta, and Nunavut.^[81] Their function is to engage their communities in active crime prevention/reduction activities, and building positive relationships between their communities and the RCMP but can also provide tactical, enforcement and investigational support to core resources as a secondary function.^[81][82] The program is scheduled to be merged into the Community Constable program in 2015.^[69]

Special constables (S/Cst.)

Employees of the RCMP, they 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 constable 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 obtain 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.

Civilian members of the RCMP

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 (Dispatcher)^[83]
• Scientific
  • Toxicology
  • Chemistry
  • Biology – DNA
  • Law
• Technical
  • Forensic Identification Services
  • Instrument Technology
  • Document Examination
  • Counterfeit Analysis
  • Firearms Technology
  • Electronics Technology
  • Information Technology
  • Communications
  • Computer Systems Development
  • Telecommunications
  • Information Services/Public Affairs
• Administrative
  • Policy Development and Analysis
  • Staff Development and Training
  • Human Resource Management
  • Translation
  • 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[edit]

The rank system of the RCMP is partly a result of their origin as a paramilitary force. Upon its founding, the RCMP adopted the rank insignia of the Canadian Army (which in turn came from the British Army), which is almost identical to that of the current Canadian Army. Like in a military, the RCMP also has a distinction between commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The non-commissioned ranks are mostly based off military ranks (apart from constable). Non-commissioned officer ranks above staff sergeant resemble those that formerly existed in the Canadian Army, but have since been replaced by warrant officers.^[84]

The commissioned officer ranks, by contrast, use a set of non-military titles that are often used in Commonwealth police services. The number of higher ranks has increased since the formation of the force. The rank of inspector, which was initially a subaltern, is now a field officer level, while several lower officer ranks have been dropped.

The numbers are current as of September 1, 2015:^[6]

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
Commissioner	Deputy Commissioner	Assistant Commissioner	Chief Superintendent	Superintendent	Inspector
Commissaire	Sous-commissaire	Commissaire adjoint	Surintendant principal	Surintendant	Inspecteur
1	7	26	58	179	348

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
Corps Sergeant Major	Sergeant Major	Staff Sergeant Major	Staff Sergeant	Sergeant	Corporal	Constable
Sergent-major du corps	Sergent-major	Sergent-major d'état major	Sergent d'état-major	Sergent	Caporal	Gendarme
1	1	13	812	1,923	3,377	11,491
						No Insignia

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 epaulettes. 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, Reserve Constables, Auxiliary Constables, and Students who wear identifying insignia.

The Bath star represents the military Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

Equipment and vehicles[edit]

Land fleet[edit]

RCMP Land Transport Fleet Inventory includes:^[85]

• Cars: 5,330
• Unmarked vehicles: 2,811
• Light Trucks: 2,090
• Heavy Trucks: 123
• SUVs: 616
• Motorcycles: 34
• Small snowmobiles: 481
• All-terrain vehicles: 181
• Gas railway car: 1
• Tractors: 27
• Buses: 3
• Total: 11,697

Marine craft[edit]

The RCMP polices Canadian Internal Waters, including the territorial sea and contiguous zone as well as the Great Lakes and Saint 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 polices freshwater lakes and rivers.

To meet these challenges, the RCMP operates 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 Newfoundland's south coast, and the rest are on the Pacific Coast.^[86] Simmonds sports the RCMP badge, but is otherwise painted with Canadian Coast Guard colours and the marking Coast Guard Police. The other four vessels are painted with blue and white RCMP colours.

The RCMP operates 377 smaller boats, defined as vessels less than 9.2 m (30 ft) long, at locations across Canada. This category ranges from canoes and car toppers to rigid-hulled inflatables and stable, commercially built, inboard/outboard vessels. Individual detachments often have smaller high-speed rigid-hulled inflatable boats and other purpose-built vessels for inland waters, some of which can be hauled by road to the nearest launching point.^[86]

RCMP Ship Fleet

Ship Name	Type	Class	Base	Specifications	Propulsion	Top Speed	Builder	Year Commissioned	Crew
Inkster	Patrol vessel	n/a	Prince Rupert, BC	19.75 m (64.8 ft) fast patrol aluminum catamaran		25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)+	Allied Shipbuilders Limited of North Vancouver, BC	1996	4
Nadon	Patrol vessel	Commissioner Class PV (Raven Class)	Nanaimo, BC	17.7 m (58 ft) fast patrol catamaran	2 × 820 hp (610 kW) D2840 LE401 V-10 MAN Diesel engines	36 kn (67 km/h; 41 mph)	Robert Allan Ltd.	1991	4
Higgitt	Patrol vessel	Commissioner Class PV	Campbell River, BC	17.7 m (58 ft) fast patrol catamaran	2 × 820 hp (610 kW) D2840 LE401 V-10 MAN Diesel engines	36 kn (67 km/h; 41 mph)	Robert Allan Ltd.	1992	4
Lindsay	Patrol vessel	Commissioner Class PV	Patricia Bay, Victoria, BC	17.7 m (58 ft) fast patrol catamaran	2 × 820 hp (610 kW) D2840 LE401 V-10 MAN Diesel engines	36 kn (67 km/h; 41 mph)	Robert Allan Ltd.	1993	4
Simmonds	Patrol vessel	Commissioner Class PV	South coast Newfoundland	17.7 m (58 ft) fast patrol catamaran	2 × 820 hp (610 kW) D2840 LE401 V-10 MAN Diesel engines	36 kn (67 km/h; 41 mph)	Robert Allan Ltd.	1995	4

Aircraft fleet[edit]

As of June 2017 the RCMP had 35 aircraft (9 helicopters and 26 fixed-wing aircraft) registered with Transport Canada (TC).^[8] All aircraft are operated and maintained by the Air Services Branch. Only the Twin Otter is a twin-engine aircraft, all the others, including the helicopters, are single engine.

RCMP Fleet

Aircraft	Number[8]	Variants	Notes
Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil	7	AS 350B3	Helicopter, AStar 350 or "Squirrel"
Cessna 206	5	U206G, T206H	Fixed wing, Stationair (Station wagon of the Air), general aviation aircraft
Cessna 208 Caravan	3	208, 208B	Fixed wing, Caravan, short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter	1	300 Series	Fixed wing, 20-passenger STOL feederliner and utility aircraft
Eurocopter EC120 Colibri	2	EC 120B	Light helicopter, "Hummingbird"
Pilatus PC-12	16	PC-12/45, PC-12/47, PC-12/47E	Fixed wing, turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft
Quest Kodiak	1	100	Fixed wing, un-pressurized, turboprop-powered fixed-tricycle-gear, STOL

Weapons and intervention options[edit]

• Smith & Wesson Model 5946
• Smith & Wesson model 3953
• Heckler & Koch MP5
• Remington Model 700P .308 centrefire rifle
• Winchester Model 70 .308 rifle. (This rifle is being phased out and replaced by the Remington 700)
• Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun
• SIG Sauer 220R - .45 ACP / SIG Sauer 226R - 9×19mm
• Colt Canada C7 rifle
• Colt Canada C8 carbine
• Taser International M26, X26, & X26P
• Oleoresin capsicum spray
• ASP and Monadnock expandable defensive batons

Past weapons and intervention options[edit]

• Fabrique Nationale (FN) C1A1 variant of the L1A1 and FN FAL produced under licence by Canadian Arsenals Limited (CAL) (Long Branch).
• Lee–Enfield No. 4 Mk1
• Winchester Model 1876 saddle carbine—issued in .45-75 Winchester, and used from 1878 until 1914.^[87]
• Enfield Mark II revolver—issued in .476 Enfield, about 1080 Mark IIs obtained from Britain's Ministry of Defence, after it was learned the Beaumont–Adams had been discontinued.^[88]
• Beaumont–Adams revolver—first issue weapon, in .450 Adams. 330 Mark Is purchased from Britain's Ministry of Defence; later, 330 Mark IIs added.^[89]
• Webley & Scott Bull Dog revolver^[90]
• Colt New Service revolver—700 ordered in .455 Webley, with .45 Long Colt versions being delivered from 1919; in all, over 3200 issued.^[91]
• Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver—issued with 5 in (130 mm) barrel, in .38 Special. It served more than forty years. Halfway through its service, the loading was changed to a .38 Special +P. (The loading was a 158 gr (0.36 oz; 10.2 g) hollowpoint, a violation of the Hague Convention if used in a military context.^[91])
• Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver
• Snider–Enfield
• Tranter revolver
• 1822 and 1853 pattern light cavalry swords
• Straightstick baton manufactured in wood and plastic
• Sap gloves

Ceremonial weapons and symbols of office[edit]

• 1912 pattern cavalry officer's sword carried by officers. Blade is acid etched both sides with the monarch's crown, Canadian coat of Arms, royal cypher and RCMP badge.
• 1908 pattern cavalry sword carried by NCOs on the Musical Ride
• Bamboo lance
• Drill cane
• Swagger stick
• Commissioner's tipstaff

In 1973, Wilkinson Sword produced a number of commemorative swords to celebrate the RCMP centennial. None of these swords were ever used ceremonially, and were strictly collectibles. Wilkinson Sword also made a commemorative centennial tomahawk and miniature "letter opener" models of their centennial swords. In 1973, Winchester Repeating Arms Company produced an RCMP commemorative centennial version of their Model 94 rifle in .30-30 Winchester, with a 22 in (560 mm) round barrel. The receiver, buttplate, and forend cap (on the musket-style forend) were plated in gold. Commemorative medallions were embedded in the right-hand side of the stock, with an "MP" engraving. There was engraving on the barrel and receiver indicating the rifle was a centennial commemorative edition. Sights were open notch rear, with a flip-up rear ladder, graduated to 2,000 yd (1,800 m). Two versions were produced, 9500 with serial numbers beginning "RCMP" for commercial sale, 5000 with the prefix "MP" sold only to serving RCMP members. In addition, ten presentation models were produced, serialled RCMP1P to RCMP10P. (The production of this commemorative is ironic, since the Winchester 94 was never used by the force.)^[92])

Popular awareness[edit]

The Mounties have been immortalized as symbols of Canadian culture in numerous Hollywood Northwestern movies and television series, which often feature the image of the Mountie as square-jawed, stoic, and polite, yet with a steely determination and physical toughness that sometimes appears superhuman. Coupled with the adage that the Mountie "always gets his man," the image projects them as fearsome, incorruptible, dogged yet gentle champions of the law. The RCMP's motto is actually Maintiens le droit, French for "Defending the Law".^[1][2] The Hollywood motto derives from a comment by a Montana newspaper, the Fort Benton Record: "They fetch their man every time".^[93]

Early depictions[edit]

In 1912, Ralph Connor's Corporal Cameron of the North-West Mounted Police: A Tale of the MacLeod Trail appeared, becoming an international best-selling novel. Mounties fiction became a popular genre in both pulp magazines and book form. Among the best-selling authors who specialized in tales of the Mounted Police were James Oliver Curwood, Laurie York Erskine, James B Hendryx, T Lund, Harwood Steele (the son of Sam Steele), and William Byron Mowery.

In other media, a famous example is the radio and television series, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. Dudley Do-Right (of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show) is a 1960s example of the comic aspect of the Mountie myth, as is Klondike Kat, from Total Television. The Broadway musical and Hollywood movie Rose-Marie is a 1930s example of its romantic side. A successful combination were a series of Renfrew of the Royal Mounted boy's adventure novels written by Laurie York Erskine beginning in 1922 running to 1941. In the 1930s Erskine narrated a Sgt Renfrew of the Mounties radio show and a series of films with actor-singer James Newill playing Renfrew were released between 1937 and 1940. In 1953 portions of the films were mixed with new sequences of Newill for a Renfrew of the Mounted television series.

A former Mounted Police corporal (1919–1923), Bruce Carruthers, served as an unofficial technical advisor to Hollywood in many films with RCMP characters.^[94]

Modern culture[edit]

In 1959, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired R.C.M.P., a half-hour dramatic series about an R.C.M.P. detachment keeping the peace and fighting crime. Filmed in black and white, in and around Ottawa by Crawley Films, the series was co-produced with the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ran for 39 episodes. It was noted for its pairing of Québécois and Anglo officers.

Canadians also poke fun at the RCMP with Sergeant Renfrew and his faithful dog Cuddles in various sketches produced by the Royal Canadian Air Farce comedy troupe. On That '70s Show Mounties were played by SCTV alumni Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas. The British have also exploited the myth: the BBC television series Monty Python's Flying Circus featured a group of Mounties singing the chorus in The Lumberjack Song in the lumberjack sketch.

The 1972–90 CBC series The Beachcombers featured a character named Constable John Constable who attempted to enforce the law in the town of Gibsons, British Columbia.

In comic books, the Marvel Comics characters of Alpha Flight were described on several occasions as "RCMP auxiliaries," and two of their members, Snowbird and the second Major Mapleleaf were depicted as serving members of the force. In the latter case, due to trademark issues, Major Mapleleaf was described as a "Royal Canadian Mountie" in the opening roll call pages of each issue of Alpha Flight he appeared in.

Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin starred in the 1981 movie Death Hunt that fictionalized the RCMP pursuit of Albert Johnson.

In the early 1990s, Canadian professional wrestler Jacques Rougeau utilized the gimmick of "The Mountie" while wrestling for the WWF. He typically wore the Red Serge to the ring, and carried a shock stick as an illegal weapon. As his character was portrayed as an evil Mountie, the RCMP ultimately won an injunction preventing Rougeau from wrestling as this character in Canada, though he was not prevented from doing so outside the country. He briefly held the Intercontinental Championship in 1992.

The 1998 swan song of Nick Berry's time on UK drama Heartbeat featured his character, Sergeant Nick Rowan, transferring to Canada and taking the rank of constable in the Mounties. The special telemovie was titled Heartbeat: Changing Places.

The 1994–98 TV series Due South paired a Mountie (and his deaf half-wolf) with a streetwise American detective cleaning up the streets of Chicago, mainly deriving its entertainment from the perceived differences in attitude between these two countries' police forces.

A pair of Mounties staffed the RCMP detachment in the fictional town of Lynx River, Northwest Territories, in the CBC series North of 60. The series, which aired from 1992 to 1998, was about events in the mostly native community, but the Mounties featured prominently in each episode.

Another TV series from the 1990s, Bordertown featured a NWMP corporal paired with a U.S. marshal securing law and order on a frontier U.S.–Canada border town. In the ABC TV mini-series Answered by Fire, at least three mounties are featured. Mounties also appears in the TV series When Calls the Heart (Hallmark Channel)

The 1987 Brian De Palma film The Untouchables featured cooperation between the Treasury Department task force, led by Eliot Ness, and the Mounties against liquor smuggling across the Canada–United States border.

The 1995 album C'est Cheese by Canadian musical comedy group The Arrogant Worms includes "The Mountie Song", which tells the story of a dissatisfied Mountie.

In his 1999, album Soiree Newfoundland musician A. Frank Willis included "Savage Cop in Savage Cove" which was based on a true story and went on to become a big hit.^[95]

From 2011, the CTV fantasy drama series "The Listener" began to regularly feature characters who worked for the Integrated Investigative Bureau, a fictional division of the R.C.M.P. that brought together various specialists, officers and civilian consultants to work on high profile or federal cases. Although characters in the employ of the IIB were rarely, if ever, depicted wearing uniform, they were often addressed by their ranks – two main characters were Sergeant Michelle McClusky and Corporal Dev Clark.

Mountie merchandise[edit]

There are products and merchandise that are made in the image of the RCMP, like Mounties statues or hats. Before 1995, the RCMP had little control over these products.

The RCMP Heritage Centre is a multi-million dollar museum designed by Arthur Erickson that opened May 2007 in Regina, Saskatchewan at the RCMP Academy, Depot Division. It replaced the old RCMP museum and is designed to celebrate the role of the force in Canada's history.

Trademark[edit]

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police received an international licence on April 1, 1995, requiring those who use the RCMP to pay a licensing fee. Proceeds from the fees is used for community awareness programmes.^[96] Those that do not pay the licensing fee are legally unable to use the name of the RCMP or their correct uniforms, though a film such as Canadian Bacon used the name "Royal Mounted Canadian Police" (RMCP) and the character in the Dudley Do-Right film did not wear accurate insignia.

Through a Master Licensing Agreement (MLA) with the RCMP, the RCMP Foundation is responsible for managing the commercial use of the RCMP name, image, and protected marks.^[97] The Foundation issues selected companies a royalty-based agreement allowing them to produce and market high quality official RCMP merchandise. Walt Disney Co. (Canada) Ltd. was contracted to aid in the initial set up of the Licensing Program^[98] but contrary to popular belief, Disney never owned or controlled any of the RCMP's protected marks.

Following the expiration of the Disney contract in 2000, all responsibilities and activities were taken over by the then Executive Director and his staff, reporting to the Foundation President and Board of Directors. In 2007, through a decree signed by Commissioner Beverley Busson, the operating name was changed to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Foundation.

Controversies and criticism[edit]

American historian Andrew Graybill has argued that the Mounted Police closely resemble the Texas Rangers in many ways. He argues that each protected the established order by confining and removing Indians, by tightly controlling the mixed blood peoples (the African Americans in Texas and the Métis in Canada), assisted the large-scale ranchers against the small-scale ranchers and farmers who fenced the land, and broke the power of labour unions that tried to organize the workers of industrial corporations.^[99]

The RCMP 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.^[100] The RCMP has also provided training overseas in Iraq and other peace-keeping missions.

In October 2016, the RCMP issued an apology for harassment, discrimination, and sexual abuse of female officers and civilian members. Additionally they set aside a $100 million fund to compensate these victims. Over 20,000 current and past female employees that were employed after 1974 are eligible.^[101]

Fallen officers and civilian members[edit]

As of December 12, 2017,^[102][103] the RCMP has 240 fallen officers, and one fallen civilian employee, for a total of 241 fallen members.

Note: Murdered is used in this table to express the cause of death of an officer at the hands of another individual, through unknown methods.

Rank and Name	Date	Cause of Death
Sub Constable John Nash	March 11, 1876	Accidental
Sub Constable George Mahoney	June 19, 1877	Drowning
Constable Marmaduke Graburn	November 17, 1879	Murdered
Constable Claudius S. Hooley	July 24, 1880	Drowning
Constable George Hamilton Johnston	May 23, 1882	Accidental gunshot
Constable Adam Wahl	May 25, 1882	Drowning
Constable Thomas James Gibson	March 26, 1885	Murdered/Killed in action at Battle of Duck Lake
Constable George Knox Garrett	March 27, 1885	Murdered/Killed in action at Battle of Duck Lake
Constable George Pearce Arnold	March 27, 1885	Murdered/Killed in action at Battle of Duck Lake
Constable David Latimer Cowan	April 15, 1885	Murdered
Corporal Ralph Bateman Sleigh	May 2, 1885	Killed in action at Battle of Cut Knife
Constable Patrick Burke	May 3, 1885	Killed in action at Battle of Cut Knife
Corporal William Hay Talbot Lowry	May 3, 1885	Killed in action at Battle of Cut Knife
Constable Frank Orlando Elliot	May 14, 1885	Murdered
Constable Alfred Perry	June 8, 1889	Drowning
Sergeant Albert Ernest Garland Montgomery	August 10, 1890	Injuries from being thrown off his horse
Constable George Quiqueran Rene Saveuse DeBeaujeu	September 8, 1890	Drowning
Corporal Harry Oliver Morphy	September 9, 1890	Drowning
Constable William Tyrrell Reading	December 14, 1890	Injuries from being crushed by a falling horse
Constable James Herron	March 2, 1891	Blizzard
Sergeant Colin Campbell Colebrook	October 29, 1895	Murdered
Constable Oscar Alexander Kern	April 27, 1896	Drowning
Sergeant William Brock Wilde	November 10, 1896	Murdered
Constable John Randolph Kerr	May 28, 1897	Murdered
Corporal Charles Horne Sterling Hockin	May 29, 1897	Murdered
Constable Norman Malcolm Campbell	December 26, 1901	Drowning
Constable Spencer Gilbert Heathcote	December 26, 1901	Drowning
Special Constable Stick Sam	July 29, 1903	Drowning
Staff Sergeant Arthur F.M. Brooke	September 26, 1903	Drowning
Constable Joseph Russell	July 5, 1905	Drowning
Constable Thomas Robert Jackson	June 8, 1906	Drowning
Corporal Alexander Gardner Haddock	June 14, 1906	Drowning
Assistant Surgeon Walter Stafford Flood	November 29, 1906	Exposure
Constable George Ernest Willmett	April 12, 1908	Murdered
Sergeant Ralph Morton L. Donaldson	April 14, 1908	Drowning
Special Constable Samuel Carter	February 14, 1911	Starvation. exposure, and exhaustion
Inspector Francis Joseph Fitzgerald	February 14, 1911	Starvation, exposure, and exhaustion
Constable George Frances Kinney	February 14, 1911	Starvation, exposure, and exhaustion
Constable Richard O'Hara Taylor	February 14, 1911	Starvation, exposure, and exhaustion
Constable Francis Walter Davies	June 3, 1912	Murdered
Corporal Maxwell George Bailey	April 23, 1913	Murdered
Constable Michael James Fitzgerald	August 27, 1913	Drowning
Constable Alexander Lamont	February 16, 1918	Typhoid fever
Staff Sergeant George Henry Leopold Bossange	June 21, 1919	Lightning
Corporal Ernest Usher	August 7, 1920	Murdered
Sergeant Arthur George Searle	May 15, 1921	Drowning
Corporal William Andrew Doak	April 1, 1922	Gunfire
Constable Ian M. Macdonald	August 28, 1924	Drowning
Constable Leo Francis Cox	June 28, 1925	Drowning
Constable Frederick Rhodes	December 6, 1926	Injuries sustained in a fire
Sergeant Richard Henry Nicholson	December 31, 1928	Murdered
Constable Donald Ross Macdonell	April 19, 1931	Drowning
Special Constable Norman Massan	April 19, 1931	Drowning
Constable Edgar Millen	January 30, 1932	Murdered
Constable Peter Seddon Oliver	February 10, 1932	Killed in action
Corporal Leonard Victor Ralls	July 5, 1932	Murdered
Corporal John Lorne Halliday	October 14, 1932	Accidental self-inflicted wound
Inspector Lorne James Sampson	May 8, 1933	Injuries from falling off his horse
Corporal Michael Moriarty	April 26, 1935	Murdered
Constable John George Shaw	October 5, 1935	Murdered
Constable George Campbell Harrison	October 8, 1935	Murdered
Sergeant Thomas Seller Wallace	October 8, 1935	Murdered
Constable Daniel Miller	October 14, 1935	Injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Constable George Edward Horan	March 10, 1937	Automobile accident
Constable William George Boorman	May 26, 1937	Accidental gunfire
Constable Willis Edward Rhodeniser	August 26, 1939	Gunfire
Constable Norman Alfred Gleadow	October 11, 1939	Murdered
Sergeant Arthur Julian Barker	March 16, 1940	Gunfire
Constable Frederick Gordon Frank Counsell	May 22, 1940	Gunfire
Constable Harry G. Rapeer	May 23, 1940	Accidental
Engineer Third Class Daniel Everett Gillis	March 26, 1941	Exposure caused by a ship fire
Constable Charles James Johnstone	May 1, 1941	Lost at sea after an enemy U-boat attack
Special Constable Henry Clare Jarvis	July 15, 1941	Drowning
Sergeant Louis Romeo Dubuc	September 27, 1941	Killed in action
Special Constable Joseph Henry Kent	November 5, 1941	Injuries from being struck by a vehicle
Constable Charles Floyd Patterson	November 25, 1941	Accidental
First Officer Patrick Reginald Fairburn Milthorpe	February 10, 1942	Shipwrecking
Constable Albert Joseph Chartrand	February 13, 1942	Heart attack
Master John Willard Bonner	September 11, 1942	Shipwrecking
Corporal Laurance Percival Ryder	January 20, 1943	Pneumonia after a cerebral haemorrhage, possibly caused by injuries sustained on duty
Constable James Harvard Delamere Bedlington	April 30, 1943	Motorcycle accident
Surgeon Maurice Powers, B.A., M.D., C.M.	October 20, 1943	Aircraft accident
Constable Terence Graham Newcomen Watts	December 28, 1943	Shellfire
Constable Edison Alexander Cameron	December 28, 1943	Killed in action
Constable David Charles Gardner Moon	December 28, 1943	Shellfire wounds
Constable Gordon Evan Bondurant	January 8, 1944	Wounds from bomb fragments
Constable Kenneth Laurence d'Albena	May 15, 1944	Destruction of his Jeep by a Teller mine
Constable John Francis Joseph Nelson	May 22, 1944	Killed in action
Constable Donald Gilbert Stackhouse	May 31, 1944	His motorcycle hitting a Teller mine
Constable Wilfred James Cobble	December 4, 1946	Struck by a vehicle
Second Class Constable James Boyd Henderson	August 7, 1948	Drowning
Constable Carl Frizzle Wilson	September 9, 1948	Struck by a vehicle
Constable Alexander Gamman	May 26, 1950	Murdered
Constable Herschel Taylor Wood	July 16, 1950	Injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Constable Stephen Kasper	May 11, 1953	Aircraft accident
Constable Joseph Kasimir Sander	July 9, 1954	Drowning
Constable Ronald Charles Bloomfield	July 9, 1954	Drowning
Special Constable Andrew Ooyoumut	July 21, 1954	Drowning
Constable Douglas Earl Fergusen	September 17, 1954	Carbon monoxide poisoning
Constable Roy Eldon Laird	August 26, 1955	Automobile accident
Constable Charles William Reay	October 6, 1955	Drowning
Inspector David James McCombe	December 12, 1955	Exposure
Constable William Lawrence Melsom	February 8, 1956	Automobile accident
Second Class Constable Henry Charles Arlington Chandler	June 15, 1956	Injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Constable John Roland Cobley	January 5, 1957	Struck by a vehicle
Corporal Herbert Milton Smart	June 7, 1958	Drowning
Second Class Constable Maurice Melnychuk	June 7, 1958	Drowning
Second Class Constable Glen Frederick Farough	June 7, 1958	Drowning
Second Class Constable David Melvyn Perry	June 7, 1958	Drowning
Second Class Constable George Herbert Edward Ransom	June 7, 1958	Drowning
Constable Cart Lennart Sundell	July 14, 1958	Accidental gunfire
Staff Sergeant Stanley Samuel Rothwell	August 6, 1958	Aircraft accident
Constable Richard William Green	August 6, 1958	Aircraft accident
Special Constable Joseph Edouard Raymond Cormier	August 6, 1958	Aircraft accident
Third Class Constable John Terence Hoey	November 7, 1958	Gunfire
Constable Colin Eric Lelliot	January 12, 1960	Gunfire
Constable Ronald Arthur Elkstrom	April 12, 1961	Non-collision automobile accident
Constable Wayne Sinclair	September 16, 1961	Severe internal injuries received in a non-collision automobile accident
Constable Joseph Thor Thompson	December 18, 1961	Injuries sustained in an aircraft-vehicle collision
Constable Elwood Joseph Keck	June 18, 1962	Gunfire
Constable Donald George Weisgerber	June 18, 1962	Gunfire
Constable Gordon Eric Petersen	June 18, 1962	Gunfire
Constable Archille Octave Maxime Lepine	July 19, 1962	Automobile accident
Constable James Walter Forman	April 24, 1963	Injuries sustained by being struck by a vehicle
Sergeant Kenneth Morley Laughland	July 13, 1963	Aircraft accident
Corporal Robert William Asbil	July 13, 1963	Aircraft accident
Constable Proctor Laurence Anthony Malcolm	July 13, 1963	Aircraft accident
Constable William John David Annand	July 13, 1963	Aircraft accident
Constable Joseph Pierre Francois Dubois	January 3, 1964	Automobile accident
Corporal Ervin Jack Giesbrecht	June 20, 1964	Drowning
Constable Robert Weston Amey	December 17, 1964	Gunfire
Third Class Constable Reginald Wayne Williams	December 19, 1964	Drowning
Constable David Brian Robinson	February 2, 1965	Accidental gunshot
Constable Neil McArthur Bruce	April 14, 1965	Pneumonia from complications caused by a gunshot wound
Constable Thomas Percy Carroll	February 11, 1966	Aircraft accident
Third Class Constable Philip John Francis Tidman	April 20, 1966	Automobile accident
Constable Gordon Donald Pearson	November 22, 1966	Gunshot wound
Third Class Constable Terry Eugene Tomfohr	June 3, 1967	Accidental
Corporal Donald Archibald Harvey	June 23, 1967	Gunshot wound
Third Class Constable Robert William Varney	August 17, 1967	Automobile accident
Corporal George Ronald Hawkins	June 6, 1968	Encephalitis
Second Class Constable James Alexander Kerr	December 11, 1968	Automobile accident
Corporal Terry Gerrard Williams	June 8, 1969	Drowning
Constable William Joseph Green	October 4, 1970	Injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Sergeant Robert James Schrader	October 9, 1970	Gunfire
Constable Douglas Bernard Anson	October 9, 1970	Gunfire
Sergeant James Aldridge O'Malley	October 28, 1970	Drowning
Constable Derek Thomas Ivany	June 25, 1971	Automobile accident
Constable Harold Stanley Siegel	September 26, 1971	Gunfire
Constable Michael Robert Mason	November 26, 1971	Drowning
Constable Roger Emile Pierlet	March 29, 1974	Gunfire
Constable Joseph Michel Benoit Létourneau	April 2, 1974	Automobile accident
Constable Joseph Henri Clément Tremblay	April 2, 1974	Automobile accident
Constable John Terrance Draginda	September 29, 1974	Automobile accident
Constable John Brian Baldwinson	October 28, 1975	Automobile accident
Constable Dennis Modest Nicklos Shwaykowski	April 6, 1977	Thrown off a moving vehicle
Corporal Barry Warren Lidstone	January 6, 1978	Gunfire
Constable Joseph Perry Brophy	January 6, 1978	Gunfire
Constable Dennis Anthony Onofrey	January 23, 1978	Gunfire
Constable William Iraneus Seward	February 15, 1978	Automobile accident
Constable Thomas Brian King	April 25, 1978	Gunfire
Special Constable George David Foster	September 4, 1978	Aircraft accident
Constable Lindberg Bruce Davis	January 8, 1979	Car-train collision
Constable Mark Percy McLachlan	February 2, 1979	Automobile accident
Constable Joseph Léon Michel Doucet	August 18, 1979	Aircraft accident
Constable Gordon Alfred Brooks	November 12, 1979	Drowning
Special Constable Ningeoseak Etidloi	November 12, 1979	Drowning
Constable Roy John William Karwaski	May 24, 1980	Internal injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Auxiliary Constable Dennis Lenard Fraser	June 4, 1980	Automobile accident
Constable Richard John Sedgwick	August 16, 1980	Injuries sustained in an Automobile accident
Constable Thomas James Agar	September 19, 1980	Gunfire
Corporal Ole Roust Larsen	August 11, 1981	Gunfire
Constable James Franklin Thomas	August 31, 1981	Automobile accident
Constable Barry Flynn McKinnon	December 16, 1981	Automobile accident
Constable Douglas Mark Ambrose Butler	October 16, 1982	Automobile accident
Constable Richard Allan Bourgoin	August 31, 1983	Murdered
Special Constable Wayne Graham Myers	December 14, 1983	Aircraft accident
Corporal Francis Eugene Jones	December 14, 1983	Aircraft accident
Constable Allen Garry Giesbrecht	January 13, 1985	Gunfire
Constable Michael Joseph Buday	March 19, 1985	Gunfire
Constable Joseph Eddy Mario Tessier	December 27, 1985	Gunfire
Special Constable Wayne Philip Boskill	January 8, 1986	Aircraft accident
Special Constable James Frederick Wilson	January 8, 1986	Aircraft accident
Special Constable Robert William Cochrane Thomas	March 6, 1986	Gunfire
Corporal Budd Maurice Johanson	April 4, 1986	Automobile accident
Auxiliary Constable Frederick Allan Abel	April 4, 1986	Automobile accident
Constable Scott Gordon Berry	June 29, 1986	Electrocution
Special Constable Gordon Zigmund Kowalczyk	January 26, 1987	Murdered
Corporal Derek John Flanagan	February 20, 1989	Injuries sustained while on special duty in Thailand
Constable Della Sonya Beyak	March 15, 1989	Automobile accident
Special Constable Nancy Puttkemery	December 9, 1989	Aircraft accident
Special Constable Norman Timms, C.D.	December 9, 1989	Aircraft accident
Constable Gerald Vernon Maurice Breese	October 24, 1990	Motorcycle accident
Constable Brian John Hutchinson	August 16, 1991	Aneurysm, directly related to injuries sustained from a blow to the head suffered on duty
Constable Christopher Colin Riglar	September 28, 1991	Injuries sustained by being struck by a vehicle
Auxiliary Constable Joseph Ernest (Sam) Balmer	August 29, 1992	Automobile accident
Constable Norman Harry Atkins	July 8, 1995	Automobile accident
Constable Joseph Ernest André Claude Gagné	September 6, 1995	Automobile accident
Constable Derek Cameron Burkholder	June 14, 1996	Gunfire
Constable Joseph Luc François (Frank) Carrière	November 30, 1997	Scuba diving accident
Corporal Graeme Charles Cumming	August 12, 1998	Automobile accident resulting in an automobile fire
Constable Joseph Ernest Jean-Guy Daniel Bourdon	May 7, 1999	Automobile accident
Sergeant Edwin Michael Mobley	August 15, 2000	Aircraft accident
Special Constable Timothy James Nicholson	August 15, 2000	Aircraft accident
Constable Jurgen Siegfried Seewald	March 5, 2001	Gunfire
Constable Peter Magdic	November 18, 2001	Automobile accident
Constable Dennis Douglas Strongquill	December 21, 2001	Gunfire
Constable Christine Elizabeth Diotte	March 12, 2002	Struck by a vehicle
Constable Wael Toufic Audi	March 29, 2002	Automobile accident
Constable Jimmy Ng	September 15, 2002	Automobile accident
Constable Joseph Léo Ghislain Maurice	June 10, 2003	Automobile accident
Corporal James Wilbert Gregson Galloway	February 28, 2004	Gunfire
Auxiliary Constable Glen Gregory Evely	November 13, 2004	Automobile accident
Constable Anthony Fitzgerald Orion Gordon	March 3, 2005	Gunfire
Constable Lionide (Leo) Nicholas Johnston	March 3, 2005	Gunfire
Constable Brock Warren Myrol	March 3, 2005	Gunfire
Constable Peter Christopher Schiemann	March 3, 2005	Gunfire
Constable Joseph Martial Maurice Jean Minguy	June 3, 2005	Drowning
Constable José Manuel Agostinho	July 4, 2005	Internal injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Constable Robin Lynelle Cameron	July 15, 2006	Gunfire
Constable Marc Joseph Denis Boudrages	July 16, 2006	Gunshot wounds
Constable Christopher John Worden	October 6, 2007	Gunshot wounds
Constable Douglas Allen Scott	November 7, 2007	Gunshot wound
Constable James Lloyd Lundblad	May 5, 2009	Automobile accident
Constable Chelsey Alice Robinson	June 21, 2010	Automobile accident
Sergeant Mark Charles Gallagher	January 12, 2010	2010 Haiti earthquake
Chief Superintendent Douglas Edward Coates	January 16, 2010	2010 Haiti earthquake
Constable Michael Bernard Potvin	July 30, 2010	Drowning
Civilian Member David John Brolin	January 17, 2012	Aircraft accident
Constable Derek Henry William Pineo	July 20, 2012	Automobile accident
Constable Adrian Johann Oliver	November 13, 2012	Automobile accident
Constable Fabrice Georges Gevaudan	June 4, 2014	Gunfire
Constable Douglas James Larche	June 4, 2014	Gunfire
Constable David Joseph Ross	June 4, 2014	Gunfire
Constable David Matthew Wynn	January 21, 2015	Gunshot wound
Constable Sarah Anne Beckett	April 5, 2016	Automobile accident caused by another officer's pursuit of an impaired driver.
Constable Richer Dubuc	March 6, 2017	Injuries sustained in an automobile accident
Constable Austin MacDougall	July 22, 2017	Struck by an automobile while cycling.
Corporal Trevor O'Keefe	September 11, 2017	Suicide
Constable Francis Deschenes	September 12, 2017	Struck by a vehicle in an automobile accident

See also[edit]

• Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the civilian complaints review body
• Courage in Red, a 13-part documentary about the RCMP
• Emergency Response Team (RCMP)
• List of Canadian organizations with royal patronage

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website

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Coordinates: 45°25′N 75°40′W / 45.42°N 75.66°W / 45.42; -75.66