Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Alberta Provincial Police
The Alberta Provincial Police (APP) was the provincial police service for the province of Alberta, Canada, from 1917 to 1932. The APP was formed as a result of the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) leaving the prairie provinces during the First World War due to a lack of sufficient resources in light of its increased responsibilities for national security and reluctance to again enforce Prohibition law recently put into effect by the Alberta government after its experience doing so during territorial times. The RNWMP was replaced by the newly created Alberta Provincial Police on March 1, 1917, which remained responsible for provincial policing until 1932, when it was eliminated as a cost-cutting measure during the Great Depression. The APP was known for its tumultuous beginning, battles against rum-runners and bootleggers during prohibition in Canada and the United States, as well as its remarkable efficiency and professionalism which endeared the force to Albertans.
On November 9, 2019, Premier Jason Kenney announced a panel exploring the benefits of reinstating the APP, along with other policies regarding the return of federal programs to Alberta's jurisdiction.
Today the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's K Division is responsible for provincial policing in Alberta and the Alberta Sheriffs Branch is responsible for additional provincial law enforcement.
Policing of the area now known as the Province of Alberta began in 1874 with the creation of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP). King Edward VII, awarded the title Royal to the North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) in 1904. Upon Alberta entering Confederation in 1905, Wilfrid Laurier proposed that the mounted police should remain in the new provinces, under contract to the provincial authorities for $75,000 per year apiece – about one-third of the actual operational cost – a solution which was approved by both sides. The workload on the police grew quickly as a consequence, with the criminal cases being handled almost trebling between 1905 and 1912 to over 13,000. Despite complaints from Commissioner Aylesworth Bowen Perry, the government refused to increase the establishment of the mounted police. By 1913, the provinces were expressing dissatisfaction about the service being delivered. Tensions grew between temperance campaigners and soldiers over the implementation of the liquor laws. The police barracks in Calgary were attacked in October 1916 by a crowd of over two hundred soldiers and civilians, who were trying to release six soldiers arrested for alcohol offences. The building was destroyed, one police officer was shot and several more injured.
The effects of the First World War weighed heavily on the RNWMP throughout Canada, as young Canadian men joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in large numbers. The Mounties were charged with additional security responsibilities such as control, monitoring and registration of enemy aliens, greater surveillance of the Canada–United States border between Lake of the Woods in Ontario and the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, guarding prisoners and investigations into complaints against enemy aliens. The RNWMP also established a special squadron of 150 men in Regina for the purpose of controlling riots and insurrections.
Owing to these greater responsibilities, which came without additional funding, on June 20, 1916, Commissioner Perry advised the federal government that the RNWMP law enforcement contract with the prairie provinces should be temporarily suspended for the duration of the First World War. Commissioner Perry reached out to the prairie provinces to negotiate agreements to suspend police services, and while the government of Saskatchewan was agreeable to the temporary change in policing, the Alberta government remained uncertain. Alberta's government under Premier Arthur Sifton agreed to the change following a telegram from Prime Minister Robert Borden on November 25, 1916, and the necessary Order-in-Councils were passed by the federal government in Ottawa a few days later on November 29, 1916. RNWMP services in Alberta would cease at midnight on December 31, 1916; however, the Alberta government was not prepared to stand-up a police force with only a months notice, so Borden extended the handover date to March 1, 1917.
Premier Arthur Sifton announced the new Alberta Provincial Police under the authority of a three-person Board of Commissioners. Sifton hoped leaving the police force at arm's length from the Legislature would reduce politicization through an intermediary. The Board of Commissioners was created on February 2, 1917, via Order in Council with Deputy Attorney General Arthur George Browning, Police Magistrate for the City of Calgary Gilbert Edward Sanders, and Police Magistrate for the City of Edmonton and former Mountie Philip Primrose as the Commissioner. The Board had the authority to set general policies, guidelines and in association with newly appointed Superintendent Major A.E.C. McConnell, oversee the hiring and dismissal of personnel.
The newly formed APP was provided a few horses and Ford Model T's, and was primarily composed of former RNWMP officers, with 85% of members previously being employed as Mounties. Despite efforts to depoliticize the new police force, the provincial government was excited about the prospect of the APP, in particular enforcing the Liquor Control Act and prohibition, which RNWMP Commissioner Perry was happy to ignore. Additional restrictions to liquor control came in 1918 when the federal government outlawed importation of liquor containing more than 2.5% alcohol content into Canada, while just across the Canada–United States border, the state of Montana remained wet. Rum runners began operating across the Canada–United States border infamously through Whiskey Gap, the British Columbia border, and the Saskatchewan border, using equipment superior to the APP's vehicles. While the rum runners had the upper hand during the early parts of prohibition, the APP grew sophisticated to handle the growing activity, especially after 1919 when the United States passed prohibition through the Eighteenth Amendment.
Hub AI
Alberta Provincial Police AI simulator
(@Alberta Provincial Police_simulator)
Alberta Provincial Police
The Alberta Provincial Police (APP) was the provincial police service for the province of Alberta, Canada, from 1917 to 1932. The APP was formed as a result of the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) leaving the prairie provinces during the First World War due to a lack of sufficient resources in light of its increased responsibilities for national security and reluctance to again enforce Prohibition law recently put into effect by the Alberta government after its experience doing so during territorial times. The RNWMP was replaced by the newly created Alberta Provincial Police on March 1, 1917, which remained responsible for provincial policing until 1932, when it was eliminated as a cost-cutting measure during the Great Depression. The APP was known for its tumultuous beginning, battles against rum-runners and bootleggers during prohibition in Canada and the United States, as well as its remarkable efficiency and professionalism which endeared the force to Albertans.
On November 9, 2019, Premier Jason Kenney announced a panel exploring the benefits of reinstating the APP, along with other policies regarding the return of federal programs to Alberta's jurisdiction.
Today the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's K Division is responsible for provincial policing in Alberta and the Alberta Sheriffs Branch is responsible for additional provincial law enforcement.
Policing of the area now known as the Province of Alberta began in 1874 with the creation of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP). King Edward VII, awarded the title Royal to the North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) in 1904. Upon Alberta entering Confederation in 1905, Wilfrid Laurier proposed that the mounted police should remain in the new provinces, under contract to the provincial authorities for $75,000 per year apiece – about one-third of the actual operational cost – a solution which was approved by both sides. The workload on the police grew quickly as a consequence, with the criminal cases being handled almost trebling between 1905 and 1912 to over 13,000. Despite complaints from Commissioner Aylesworth Bowen Perry, the government refused to increase the establishment of the mounted police. By 1913, the provinces were expressing dissatisfaction about the service being delivered. Tensions grew between temperance campaigners and soldiers over the implementation of the liquor laws. The police barracks in Calgary were attacked in October 1916 by a crowd of over two hundred soldiers and civilians, who were trying to release six soldiers arrested for alcohol offences. The building was destroyed, one police officer was shot and several more injured.
The effects of the First World War weighed heavily on the RNWMP throughout Canada, as young Canadian men joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in large numbers. The Mounties were charged with additional security responsibilities such as control, monitoring and registration of enemy aliens, greater surveillance of the Canada–United States border between Lake of the Woods in Ontario and the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, guarding prisoners and investigations into complaints against enemy aliens. The RNWMP also established a special squadron of 150 men in Regina for the purpose of controlling riots and insurrections.
Owing to these greater responsibilities, which came without additional funding, on June 20, 1916, Commissioner Perry advised the federal government that the RNWMP law enforcement contract with the prairie provinces should be temporarily suspended for the duration of the First World War. Commissioner Perry reached out to the prairie provinces to negotiate agreements to suspend police services, and while the government of Saskatchewan was agreeable to the temporary change in policing, the Alberta government remained uncertain. Alberta's government under Premier Arthur Sifton agreed to the change following a telegram from Prime Minister Robert Borden on November 25, 1916, and the necessary Order-in-Councils were passed by the federal government in Ottawa a few days later on November 29, 1916. RNWMP services in Alberta would cease at midnight on December 31, 1916; however, the Alberta government was not prepared to stand-up a police force with only a months notice, so Borden extended the handover date to March 1, 1917.
Premier Arthur Sifton announced the new Alberta Provincial Police under the authority of a three-person Board of Commissioners. Sifton hoped leaving the police force at arm's length from the Legislature would reduce politicization through an intermediary. The Board of Commissioners was created on February 2, 1917, via Order in Council with Deputy Attorney General Arthur George Browning, Police Magistrate for the City of Calgary Gilbert Edward Sanders, and Police Magistrate for the City of Edmonton and former Mountie Philip Primrose as the Commissioner. The Board had the authority to set general policies, guidelines and in association with newly appointed Superintendent Major A.E.C. McConnell, oversee the hiring and dismissal of personnel.
The newly formed APP was provided a few horses and Ford Model T's, and was primarily composed of former RNWMP officers, with 85% of members previously being employed as Mounties. Despite efforts to depoliticize the new police force, the provincial government was excited about the prospect of the APP, in particular enforcing the Liquor Control Act and prohibition, which RNWMP Commissioner Perry was happy to ignore. Additional restrictions to liquor control came in 1918 when the federal government outlawed importation of liquor containing more than 2.5% alcohol content into Canada, while just across the Canada–United States border, the state of Montana remained wet. Rum runners began operating across the Canada–United States border infamously through Whiskey Gap, the British Columbia border, and the Saskatchewan border, using equipment superior to the APP's vehicles. While the rum runners had the upper hand during the early parts of prohibition, the APP grew sophisticated to handle the growing activity, especially after 1919 when the United States passed prohibition through the Eighteenth Amendment.