I enjoyed entertainment editor Kristin Froneman’s informative and well-written piece entitled, “Hands up for Caravan Farm’s Our Town."
As stated in her article, the Royal North West Mounted Police made the arrest of Bill Miner and his gang. Historically, however, the RNWMP has been taking sole credit for his capture at the expense of the proud traditions and brave sacrifices of our former B.C. Provincial Police who served us well for 92 years (1858-1950).
The Mounties were still 44 years away from policing B.C. when asked to assist the BCPP in the search for the Grey Fox following the 1906 train robbery near Kamloops. In response, several members of the federal territorial police were dispatched from the one-year-old province of Alberta to support the BCPP-led posses.
It was BCPP Const. William Fernie, from Kamloops, supported by local First Nations trackers, that located the train robber and his cohorts. Constable Fernie’s better judgment then sent him off to find and return with a nearby RNWMP patrol to handle the arrest.
The reasons for the 1950 RCMP takeover of our made in B.C. provincial force, which was recognized as one of the most highly modernized law enforcement organizations in North America at the time, is still unclear to this day. But with the stroke of his pen, attorney general Gordon Wismer, of B.C.’s Liberal-Conservative coalition government, instantly negated some of B.C.’s law enforcement independence built into confederation. It also began the start of a giveaway of thousands of future policing jobs in B.C., in transient fashion, to young Canadian men and women from outside the province, a practice that still continues.
Former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy stated: “Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists upon.”
In its questionable wisdom, perhaps in an attempt to save money, the provincial government destroyed a police service uniquely developed over nine decades in conjunction with its citizens and replaced it with a territorial-style federal force attempting to serve two (provincial/federal) masters.
The stellar international reputation of our Canadian Mounties should never be permitted to fade away. Nor should we ever forget their challenging contributions and sacrifices, especially while protecting early settlers and maintaining sovereignty during the development of Canada’s former North West Territory.
But, since its inception 143 years ago, the RCMP should by now, have evolved into a well-educated, highly-trained, specialized organization concentrating on sophisticated criminal activity associated with the constant advances in new technology, rather than being seen issuing traffic tickets on the highway or in downtown Vernon.
For whatever reason B.C.’s provincial governments continue to relinquish much of our law enforcement responsibilities to a federal government body, we must at least provide the men and women of our community police service with a better working environment.
The present overcrowded and scattered detachment must be replaced with a new, stand-alone building at a more convenient location to service the local and travelling public. And the dangerous and deplorable police parking situation on 35th Avenue, which takes up a good portion of the eastbound lane and half of the sidewalk, is shameful if not unlawful.
Andrew F. Maksymchuk
Vernon