The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Police Service (CPKC Police Service), formerly known as Canadian Pacific Police Service (CPPS) until 2023, is a railway police service responsible for providing police services on, around, and in relation to

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, Trade name, doing business as CPKC (known as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited until 2023), is a Canadian railway holding company. Through its primary operating railroad subsidiaries, Canadian Pacific Railw ...

property and rail lines in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Police Service is one of the oldest police services in Canada. CPKC Police Service, formerly Canadian Pacific Police Service and CP Railway Police, have a long and storied past within Canada and CP Rail is a part of Canada's history. Railway police were called upon many times to police

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

s, and to keep the peace during the building of the Canadian Railways from coast to coast. The railway police history dates many years and continues the tradition of protecting Canada's vast section of railway. Years ago, the CPKC Police provided police services to

union station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

buildings, CP Hotels, CP Ships and CP Air. CPR is now their main responsibility, as the above CP departments have been sold.

Conflict of interest controversy

In 2019, the Canadian Pacific Police Service was criticized by its own officers for having a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

and failing to properly investigate a CP train crash near

Field, British Columbia Field is an unincorporated community of approximately 169 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park. At an elevation of , it is west of Lake Louise a ...

that resulted in three deaths. The incident called into question the role of private police forces.

Organization

Authority

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Police Service are responsible for all aspects of railway security. They are duly appointed and armed federal police officers that gather their authority in Canada via the ''Railway Safety Act'' as well as other acts. The ''Railway Safety Act'' is a federal act that allows for any federal railway to appoint officers as police constables. These police constables have all the powers of a regular police officer as it relates to the protection of property owned, possessed or administered by a railway company and the protection of persons and property on that property. Railway Safety Act - R.S., 1985, c. 32 (4th Supp.)
/ref> Railway police are unique in Canada as they are the only sworn peace officers employed by a privately owned law enforcement agency. CPKCPS are "a fully authorized federal force, bound to uphold Canada's laws" and licensed to carry arms. The main duties of a railway police officer are to protect the public using the company facilities, the employees and its assets. This includes public education on trespassing, school awareness programs, investigating crimes against the railway, assist the local police services, issuing tickets and many other duties including security of property and buildings. CPKC Rail assigns individual officers large sections of railway tracks to patrol and conduct active enforcement and public safety initiatives.

Operations

The police service is led by two separate chiefs - one for the Canadian operation, and the other for the American operation. All CPKC Police officers must have knowledge of federal and provincial laws as the railway properties cross many jurisdictions (federal, provincial, municipal, county) and have to collaborate with their respective police departments. The job of a railway police officer is sometimes lonely, patrolling miles of track alone, with little back-up. They are paid on par with regular police officers in Canada and receive similar benefits. CP Rail is a private company and pays taxes that includes public police protection, thus CPR has downsized their police department over several decades. CPKC Police numbers have remained steady at about 100 officers in the United States and Canada. Jurisdictional public police departments maintain the overall responsibility for public safety and law enforcement in their respective territories including CPR property. CPKC Police will assist local police if necessary, and conduct its own investigations. CPR also uses its police department to conduct investigations into employee conduct dealing with collective agreement violations involving alcohol and drugs, as well as criminal matters.

Training

CPKC Police recruits attend different federal and provincial police academies as there is no government-mandated training college for railway police in Canada. Currently, CPKC Police have an agreement with the Lethbridge Police Service and the

Lethbridge College Lethbridge Polytechnic (also known as LethPolytech), formerly Lethbridge College, is a public polytechnic institute located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with regional campuses in Claresholm, Vulcan, Pincher Creek, and the Crowsnest Pass. Le ...

in Alberta to provide recruit training to new officers. In 2010, CP Police used the Saskatchewan Municipal Police College (SKPC) to train recruits. The SKPC also offers continuing education and specialized courses to experienced members. Before 2010, CP Police recruits used to get their basic training at the RCMP Academy at Depot in Regina, Saskatchewan. For specialized police training, members may attend different provincial police colleges, as well as the Canadian Police College in Ottawa.

Equipment

The CPKC uniform consists of a dark blue shirt, dark blue cargo pants with

body armour Body armour, personal armour (also spelled ''armor''), armoured suit (''armored'') or coat of armour, among others, is armour for human body, a person's body: protective clothing or close-fitting hands-free shields designed to absorb or deflect ...

; they are armed with the usual police use-of-force equipment, as well as a Glock 9mm pistol, Remington 870 shotgun and SIG Sauer M400 patrol rifle. They are issued a standard police-style forage cap. In addition, CPKC police sometimes work in a plain-clothes capacity.

Fleet

Current: *

Ford Police Interceptor Utility The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

Vehicle

* 2009-2012

Ford Explorer The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

* Ram pickup 4 X 4 *

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since model year 1948 as a range of full-sized pickup trucks — positioned between Ford's Ranger and Super Duty pickup trucks. Alongs ...

4 X 4 *

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from the to ...

Former: *

Ford Crown Victoria The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 until the 2012 model years. T ...

* 2009-2014

4 X 4 *

Dodge Magnum The Dodge Magnum is a nameplate used by several Dodge vehicles, at different times and on various markets. The name was first applied to a large Chrysler B platform-based 2-door coupe marketed from 1978 to 1979 sold in the United States and Canad ...

* 1997-2011

Dodge Dakota The Dodge Dakota, marketed as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a Pickup truck#Mid-size pickups, mid-size pickup truck manufactured by Chrysler and marketed by its Dodge Truck division (model years 1987-2009) and later its R ...

References

External links

CPKC Police Service Website
{{Authority control Railroad police agencies Railroad police departments of the United States Canadian Pacific Railway Canadian Pacific Kansas City Private police in Canada