Royal Canadian Mounted Police
www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca
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Beyond the Red Serge
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A modern police force
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is Canada’s national police force, responsible for enforcing the law, preventing crime and protecting Canadians. From its roots as the North-West Mounted Police dismantling the whiskey trade in the west, to protecting the railroads and the northern frontier, to its role today combating organized crime and terrorism, the RCMP is both steeped in history and tradition, and on the leading edge of policing.
Today’s RCMP represents a modern police force, but one that has retained links with its proud past. The scarlet tunic and the black horse are still important symbols of the RCMP and can be seen in public ceremonies, such as the popular Musical Ride. But that’s just one of many roles performed by Canada’s national police force, which has evolved into a diverse and dynamic organization, ready to meet today’s policing challenges.
The RCMP has approximately 28,000 employees, including police officers, civilian members, and Public Service Employees.
The RCMP’s Civil Fingerprint Screening Services processes more than 15,000 criminal record searches each month.
The RCMP has been involved in international peace operations since 1989, and RCMP members serve on missions with Canadian partner police agencies.
In 1873, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald used the Royal Irish Constabulary as the model for the North-West Mounted Police, which later became the RCMP.
For more than 120 years, the RCMP Academy, Depot Division in Regina, Saskatchewan, has been training members of Canada’s national police force.
The famous Musical Ride is performed by a full troop of 32 riders and horses, plus the member in charge, and consists of intricate figures and cavalry drills choreographed to music.
How the RCMP operates
One of the things that makes the RCMP unique is that it provides policing services at three different levels across Canada: federal, provincial/territorial and municipal. In addition, the RCMP works in the international arena by selecting, training and deploying Canadian police to peace missions. It also maintains a network of Liaison Officers around the world. This has allowed the RCMP to participate in a wide variety of work, covering many aspects of policing.
Canada’s National Police
As part of its federal mandate, the RCMP works to protect national security, target organized crime and combat terrorism and specific crimes related to the illicit drug trade. The RCMP also fights economic crimes such as counterfeiting and credit card fraud, and offences that threaten the security of our national borders.
In addition, the RCMP protects VIPs, including the Prime Minister of Canada and foreign dignitaries, and plays a lead role in ensuring safety and security at major international events held in Canada, such as the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Policing communities
Providing community policing services to provinces, territories and municipalities is at the heart of what the RCMP does. Operating from more than 750 detachments, the RCMP delivers daily policing services under contract to the Government of Canada in eight provinces, three territories and more than 200 municipalities. This is called contract policing.
The only provinces where the RCMP does not provide contract policing are Ontario and Quebec where the focus is on the federal mandate. In all other provinces and territories, the RCMP can be found doing highway patrol, investigating crimes, maintaining peace and order, and working with youth on community-based programs.
The RCMP also has a long and productive history of service to First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across the country. The RCMP continues to build and maintain relationships with the more than 600 Aboriginal communities it serves.
Leading edge policing
In its efforts to prevent and tackle crime, RCMP members can be found driving patrol cars and sometimes even bicycles in cities and towns across the country, patrolling Canada’s coastline in boats, flying into remote communities or driving all-terrain vehicles high in the mountains.
Using sophisticated technologies, innovative programs and partnerships with police in Canada and around the world, the RCMP is able to provide leadership and expertise in many different and often complex areas of policing.
Some examples of these innovative programs and technologies include:
Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC): A national repository of police information that is shared among all Canadian law enforcement, CPIC currently handles in excess of 120 million queries and stores 9.6 million records in its investigative data banks.
The National DNA Data Bank: Accessible to all law enforcement in Canada, the data bank uses robotic technology to process, analyze and compare DNA samples. Matches help identify or eliminate suspects and link crimes.
Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMETs): Composed of police, lawyers and other investigative experts, IMETs help protect Canada’s capital markets through the detection, investigation and prevention of serious corporate and financial markets crime.
Technological Operations: “Tech Ops” provides support in technical or specialized areas of policing, including geographic profiling, criminal behaviour analysis, audio and video analysis and computer and explosives forensics.
Interpol Ottawa: Composed of members from the RCMP and other Canadian police forces, this is the primary link between the Canadian and international law enforcement community for foreign requests for police assistance.
Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs): Comprising Canadian and American partners, IBETs investigate and share intelligence on illegal cross-border activities.
National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre (NCECC): Through partnerships with police, government, communities, associations and the private sector, NCECC coordinates, collaborates and gathers intelligence to combat the global online sexual exploitation of children.
