Stuart Taylor Wood
| Stuart Taylor Wood | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 17, 1889 Napanee, Ontario |
| Died | January 4, 1966 (aged 76) Regina, Saskatchewan |
| Allegiance | Canadian |
| Commands held | Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police |
| Awards | CMG |
Stuart Taylor Wood, CMG (October 17, 1889 – January 4, 1966) served as the ninth Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from March 6, 1938 to April 30, 1951.
Born in Napanee, Ontario, Wood's father, Zachary Taylor Wood, CMG served in the North-West Mounted Police from 1885 to 1915 and was Acting Commissioner of the Force.
Wood attended the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario where he graduated in 1912. Shortly after he secured a commission in the RNW Mounted Police and served with the Force until his retirement in 1951, almost forty years.
Wood himself served in World War I as a lieutenant in the cavalry in France and Belgium. He served in the Yukon upon returning to Canada in 1919 as Justice of the Peace, Coroner, Sheriff, Game Inspector and Customs Officer.
When Wood became an Acting Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioner he initiated many changes. Through 1945 and 1946 he established a system of registration for aliens, and dealt with espionage cases. In the North, he recruited new policing detachments. He organized a permanent Royal Canadian Mounted Police Band, (later disbanded by Commissioner Inkster in 1994). He established the first RCMP scientific laboratory and museum in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Wood also established a horse breeding station at Fort Walsh. He improved wireless communication and broadcasting and instituted a preventive policing program for youth. He negotiated provincial policing contracts for Newfoundland and British Columbia. Under his leadership the RCMP force grew gradually and scientific methods of crime detection improved enhancing law enforcement and crime prevention. Wood retired from the RCMP in 1951 and died in 1966. He was buried in Regina, Saskatchewan.
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