The Dominion Police Force was the

federal police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

force of

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 ...

between 1868 and 1920, and was one of the predecessors of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. It was the first federal police force in Canada, formed the year following the

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

to enforce federal laws and perform policing duties for the Federal Government of Canada. On 1 February 1920, the Dominion Police was merged with the Royal North-West Mounted Police to form the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the new federal police force of Canada.

History

The Dominion Police was formed as the first

force with

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

over the entirety of Canada, built from the Western Frontier Constabulary which had been in existence since 1864. It was mainly active in

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, while the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

, founded in 1873, handled the expansive and sparsely populated

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated pop ...

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

. It was created on May 22, 1868, in response to the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a prominent Irish-Canadian politician and MP for Montreal West, in

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on 7 April. McGee was killed by elements of the Fenian Brotherhood, a powerful

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organization based in the

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, in the new federal capital less than a year after

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. The Canadian authorities were worried about the power of the Fenian Brotherhood, which had already launched three major raids into Canada in 1866 before McGee's death, and that existing

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

agencies were not capable of protecting state security. Its primary functions were: * protection of buildings of the Federal Government of Canada, including the Parliament Buildings on

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, the naval yards at Halifax and

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, * providing bodyguards for government leaders, * carrying out

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work arising from the activities of the Fenian raids, * enforcing certain federal laws such as those relating to

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and

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, and * keeping the peace for specified railways and canals that were under construction when the ''Public Works Peace Preservation Act, 1869'' was brought into force. They gradually also acquired responsibilities for compiling

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and

criminal record A criminal record (not to be confused with a police record or arrest record) is a record of a person's criminal Conviction, convictions history. The information included in a criminal record, and the existence of a criminal record, varies betwe ...

s, and administering a

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

service. In

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, commissioners of the Dominion Police were vested with the same powers as

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s and justices of the peace in the province, and

constables A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

had the same status as those appointed under provincial law. The Dominion Police informally handled some provincial-level policing duties in rural Ontario until the creation of the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

in 1909. In May 1918, the Dominion Police were reassigned to the

Department of Militia and Defence The Department of Militia and Defence was the government department responsible for military land forces in Canada from 1868 to 1921. The Minister of Militia and Defence (Canada), Minister of Militia and Defence was in charge of this department. ...

and became a civilian wing of the Canadian Military Police Corps (CMPC). In the early 1900s, the Royal North-West Mounted Police had declined as the North-West Territories was divided into new provinces and territories, and due to the general unpopularity of the force for conduct during industrial disputes such as the

Winnipeg General Strike The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the ...

. On 1 February 1920, the civilian members of the CMPC, including the Dominion Police, were merged with the

, and the CMPC was disbanded on 1 December 1920.

Structure

The Dominion Police consisted of Commissioners and constables appointed for that purpose, and its authority extended over the provinces and all parts of the territories not patrolled by the RNWMP. The organization was decentralized, with many Commissioners being appointed with either provincial or national responsibility, and it had two national co-commissioners until 1876. The national Commissioner also acted as the Commissioner of the Montreal Water Police, which reported separately to the Minister of the Marine and Fisheries. Although formed under different statutory authority, its constables were appointed as police officers under the 1868 Act. The commissioners that had responsibility for all of Canada were: :* Gilbert McMicken (1869-1871) :* Hewitt Bernard (1871-1876) :* Charles-Joseph Coursol (1869-1876) :* Zebulon Aiton Lash (1876-1880) :* Augustus Keefer (1880-1885) :* Sir Percy Sherwood (1885-1919) :* Colonel Gilbert Godson-Godson (1919-1920) From 1913, while Sherwood was the commissioner responsible for all of Canada, the title for this senior commissioner role was adjusted to Chief Commissioner, to whom all regional or departmental commissioners reported.

Ranks

The ranks of the Dominion Police were as follows: *Chief Commissioner ("chief" designation added 1913) *Commissioner *Inspector *Sub-inspector *Sergeant *Constable

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

* , Federation of American Scientists
Dominion Police, 1868–1919
Library and Archives Canada {{authority control 1868 establishments in Canada 1920 disestablishments in Canada Royal Canadian Mounted Police Former Canadian federal departments and agencies Legal history of Canada Defunct law enforcement agencies of Canada Ministries established in 1868 Uniformed services of Canada Fenian Raids