Victoria Police Department
| Victoria Police Department | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | VicPD |
VicPD Heraldic Badge
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Past style ID Badge of VicPD
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| Motto | Honour through Service |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | July 1858 |
| Employees | 349 |
| Volunteers | 78 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | City of Victoria in the province of British Columbia, Canada |
| Governing body | Victoria Police Board |
| Constituting instrument | BC Police Act |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 850 Caledonia Ave |
| Police Constables | 243 |
| Civilians | 106 |
| Elected officers responsible |
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| Agency executive | Frank Elsner, Chief Constable |
| Facilities | |
| Stations |
2
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| Website | |
| http://www.vicpd.ca | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
Victoria Police Department (VicPD) is the municipal police force for the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest municipal police department in Canada west of the Great Lakes, the first Canadian law enforcement agency to deploy Tasers and VicPD created the first digital forensic unit in the country. They are also one of the few police departments in Canada to use the G36 rifle.
VicPD is currently headed by Chief Frank Elsner, who took office on January 1, 2014.
Policing on Vancouver Island was conducted by the Victoria Voltigeurs. The Voltigeurs existed as an armed, uniformed militia that served all Vancouver Island on an "as and when needed" basis. It is thought that they were primarily of Metis background. Following the end of their service, in 1854 a single town Constable (Thomas Hall) policed the early town core.
On July 8, 1858, Vancouver Island Governor James Douglas appointed Augustus Pemberton as Commissioner of Police for the then British colony. Policing in Victoria pre-dated the city's founding (1862). Pemberton's appointment was published locally on July 17, 1858. The Governor had enlisted ten Jamaican men from San Francisco to form a police force. They arrived in Fort Victoria in April 1858 aboard the steamship, Commodore. They wore simple blue wool uniforms with tall blue hats. A red sash denoted their authority. The force only lasted about two months and was disbanded because of the racial strife the men attracted.
The Department was a shared Crown Colony, Province and City establishment through until the mid-1870s when control and oversight of the Department was left with the young City of Victoria.
VicPD honours the memory of five officers who have lost their lives serving the citizens of Greater Victoria; the first officer, Constable Johnston Cochrane being murdered in 1859 and his death is marked as the first known law enforcement death in the Province of British Columbia. The most recent line of duty death was a tragic motorcycle incident that caused the death of Constable Earle Doyle in 1959. VicPD and their associated Victoria Police Historical Society placed a Memorial Cairn at their headquarters on Caledonia Avenue inscribing all five names.
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Wikipedia