History
The Halifax Police Department was officially formed on October 28, 1864, although a system of constables had been operated in an unofficial manner since the first days of settlement, on July 18, 1749. Each ship arriving in the port city of Halifax would appoint one member of the crew to act as a constable responsible for the actions of the crew and passengers on board. In January 1799, the "Night Patrol" was formed to address a number of break and enters that hit the area in the previous year.
July 1813, was marked by widespread rioting and the Militia was called up to take over policing duties. They were discharged in February 1814, but quickly re-instated less than a month later when rioting resumed.
In October 1864 the Day Watch and Night Watch merged to form the Halifax Police Department under City Marshall Garrett Cotter. Six divisions were formed with five men assigned to each Sergeant. Halifax got its first Detective in 1873.
The Dartmouth Police Department was established in 1874 following the City of Dartmouth's incorporation the previous year. The town of Bedford didn't have its own police force until 1982.
With the April 1, 1996 creation of the Halifax Regional Municipality, the police forces of Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford were dissolved and merged into the new Halifax Regional Police (HRP). Policing in the new municipality was split between HRP covering the boundaries of the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth and town of Bedford, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) covered rural areas in the rest of the municipality.
Read more about this topic: Halifax Regional Police
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