RURAL POLICE 307 



said he, ''these mounted police get after him, and they land him." 

 Such is certainly the reputation of the Royal Northwest Mounted 

 Police. It is an organization that is unique among world-famous " 

 constabularies. It is a body of men numbering 651; composed 

 of 51 officers and 600 men, commissioned officers, and constables, 

 with 558 horses. They police a territory composed of the prov- 

 inces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the extensive districts of 

 Mackenzie and Keewatin, excluding, of course, the larger cities, 

 which have their own constabulary. The most distant detach- 

 ment is on the Arctic Ocean, 2,500 miles from headquarters at 

 Regina a distance that requires two months to travel. 



The entire force is under the command of Commissioner A. B. 

 Perry, with headquarters at Regina. The whole territory is 

 divided up into eight districts, each of which is under the charge 

 of a superintendent with headquarters respectively at different 

 points in the two provinces. At each divisional point there are 

 barracks, a jail, and complete equipment. There are many duties 

 performed by the force in addition to what may be termed regular 

 police duties. They maintain the common jails, escort all prison- 

 ers to trial and those who are convicted to the penitentiary, attend 

 upon all criminal courts, serve all criminal processes, escort luna- 

 tics to the asylum, etc., etc. They also conduct important patrol 

 expeditions through unsettled and unsurveyed regions, visit the 

 settlers once a month in sparsely settled sections, make investiga- 

 tions and report upon the condition of the natives, the state of 

 immigration, the nature of the soil, crops, etc., in all outlying 

 regions that are beginning to be settled up all this in addition 

 to their regular police duties. 



One gets an idea of the nature and amount of work done in 

 the detection and punishment of crime and the preservation of 

 order from the report of Commissioner Perry ; it shows for eleven 

 months of the year 1909 that 6,888 cases of crimes, misdemeanors, 

 and petty offenses were handled by the force, and that convic- 

 tions resulted in 5,849 cases, being 86 per cent, of cases tried. 

 The special reports filed by the divisional superintendents, which 

 go into the facts with more or less detail, are full of interesting 

 cases showing the courage and esprit de corps of the force. 



