NCJ Number
166869
Date Published
1995
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the emergence of historical writing on the Canadian police, the current status of the literature, and its likely directions.
Abstract
For decades the Mounted Police were the subject of the only histories of policing in Canada, and most of this literature was Whiggish, anecdotal, and ethnocentric. Although the early 20th century was a golden age of English Canadian historiography, scholars avoided the topic of the Mounted Police. Journalists and amateurs did not, however. The first full history of the force appeared in 1906, authored by Ernest J. Chambers. Until Akin's balanced account in 1973, historical accounts of the Mounted Police were pro-police. Because of its decentralized police system, Canada's police history must be developed on a city-by- city, Province-by-Province basis. In the final section of this paper, the author examines four organizing principles for further research, using examples taken from police and civic records deposited at the City of Vancouver Archives. The organizing principles addressed are police and the law, police and crime, police and community, and police and professionalism. The author notes that Canadians are debating issues such as police recruitment and training, the use of deadly force, and the general problem of accountability. Such issues are rooted in the past, and historians have a role to play in the debate. The time seems opportune for a new police historiography. 58 notes