The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS; ) provides policing services for the

Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge, Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Waterl ...

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 ...

, Canada, which encompasses the cities of

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

, Kitchener, and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, as well as the townships of

North Dumfries The Township of North Dumfries is a rural township in Ontario, Canada, part of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Communities North Dumfries includes the following communities: Ayr, Branchton, Clyde (formerly from Beverley Township, Wentw ...

, Wellesley, Wilmot and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

. The WRPS was established in 1973, to replace the individual police departments in the region. The cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Galt; the towns of Preston, Hespeler, Elmira and New Hamburg; the Village of Bridgeport and Waterloo Township had their own respective police department. The townships of Woolwich, Wellesley, Wilmot and North Dumfries were under the jurisdiction 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 1991 the Waterloo Regional Police Force was renamed to their current name.

Organization

On July 15, 2014, Bryan Larkin was named chief of police. He replaced Matt Torigian, who had been chief of police since December, 2007. In 1991, to minimize the negativity associated with the word ''force'', the department changed its name from "Waterloo Regional Police Force" to "Waterloo Regional Police Service".

Headquarters

The WRPS' headquarters is located at 200 Maple Grove Road on the border with

and Kitchener. This site was chosen as it is geographically centre to all the urban areas within the region. Waterloo Regional Police Headquarters has a museum in the lobby complete with old uniforms, equipment and information on the departments prior to 1973.

Operational patrol divisions

North - formerly Division 3 - 45 Columbia St. E.,

Central - formerly Division 1 - 134 Frederick St, Kitchener South - formerly Division 2 - 176 Hespeler Rd,

Rural North - formerly Division 3A- 13 Industrial Dr, Elmira Rural South - formerly Division 1A- 34 Peel St, New Hamburg

Branches and divisions

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is made up of: ''Patrol divisions'' * North Division - serving the City of Waterloo, and areas of Kitchener not served by Central Division * Central Division - serving the City of Kitchener (East of Victoria Street, south of Belmont Ave to Highland and south of Westmount to Highway 7/8) * South Division - serving the City of Cambridge, and areas of Kitchener ( Doon South, Trillium Industrial Park, Parkway, Hidden Valley) * Rural North - serving Woolwich and Wellesley townships * Rural South - serving Wilmot and North Dumfries townships All divisions have a criminal investigations branch. ''Investigative services'' * Homicide * Major case unit * Fraud branch * Traffic services * Forensic identification * Domestic violence unit * Elder abuse * Traffic * Collision reporting centre * Technical crime unit ''Strategic and tactical services (Division 7)'' * Special response unit * Drug branch * Intelligence ''Support services'' * Communications branch * Records branch * Evidence management * Court services * Information technology ''Community and corporate services'' * Community resources * Human resources * Training branch * Quality assurance ''Policing standards'' * Public complaints ''Executive office'' * Media relations * Emergency planning * Research and planning * Business planning

Shoulder flashes

Shoulder flashes are worn on the uniforms of Waterloo Regional Police officers. File:Waterloo Regional Police Shoulder Flash.jpg, Standard officer flash File:Waterloo Regional Police Senior Officer Shoulder Flash.jpg, Senior officer flash File:Waterloo Regional Police Tactical Team Black Shoulder Flash.jpg, Emergency response team black File:Waterloo Regional Police Tactical Team Green Shoulder Flash.jpg, Emergency response team green File:Waterloo Regional Police Old Shoulder Flash.jpg, Old shoulder flash

Fleet

Current vehicles in service

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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 ...

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* GMC Savana *

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle (van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, ...

Vehicle markings

Marked cruisers are white, with hood, trunk lid, front and rear quarter panels and bumpers painted navy blue. The text ''Waterloo Regional Police'' in silver retroreflective text with a navy blue outline appears on the sides of the vehicles. A distinct solid red line curves from the front, through to the rear of the vehicle, with the motto "People Helping People" and "911" on the rear quarter panel. A series of white horizontal stripes appear above and below the curved red stripe. The crest of the police service appears on the rear pillar as well. A Canadian flag in addition to any special designations for the vehicle, such as "supervisor", "traffic", "duty officer" are displayed on the front fender. On the rear of the cruiser, the text "Waterloo Regional Police" is displayed on the left side of the trunk lid, and the vehicle number and divisional designation (where applicable) on the right side. On the bumper appears the police service website (wrps.on.ca), along with the Crime Stoppers tip-line number encompassed by retroreflective chevrons. Affixed to the roof is a red and blue LED light bar, as well as several antennas for communication and GPS.

Officer ranks

The rank structure used by the WRPS is defined by regulations of Ontario's ''Police Services Act''. *Chief of police (crown and three maple leaves) *Deputy chief (crown and two maple leaves) *Superintendent (crown) *Inspector (two maple leaves) *Staff sergeant (crown and three chevrons) *Sergeant (three chevrons) *Constable The Waterloo Regional Police Service does not use the rank of staff superintendent or staff inspector.

Auxiliary unit

The Waterloo Regional Police Service also has an auxiliary unit, composed of approximately 75 unpaid civilian volunteers. Auxiliary officers assist with special events, parades, as well as community programs.

References

External links

Waterloo Regional Police Service
{{Authority control Law enforcement agencies of Ontario Waterloo, Ontario Regional Municipality of Waterloo 1973 establishments in Ontario