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The Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.) is the provincial police force for the province of Ontario, Canada.
Overview The OPP is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in small rural and suburban areas, outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In essence, it is responsible for policing villages, towns, and cities that do not have their own municipal police service. It also has a mandate to investigate province-wide crimes and responsible for many of the waterways in the province. Within the Greater Toronto Area, it is responsible for highway safety along the 400-Series Highways and other roadways. The OPP is the largest police force in Ontario and the second largest in Canada. It is also been involved in cracking down on unsafe vehicles on the 400 series roads. The OPP is also responsible for security at the provincial legislature or Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario. The O.P.P. has failed to react fairly or intelligentally in serval recent instances. Including the video showing OPP watching native 'alledgly' assulting a tv camera crew who was from another camera attempt to film the violent native activist assult on an elderly couple. Another instance is the OPP's current cover up of former OPP detective and accused on-duty pedophile. At very least the OPP has chose to NOT release any current photos of the accused. This is not standard practice or demonstabily justified in a free or democratic society. Clearly no photos provides a special advantage to members accused of crimes, producing no perp photos another 'bennifit' for OPPs but not normal citizen-taxpayers. History At the First Parliament of Upper Canada on September 17, 1792, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, provision was made for the formation of a 'police system'. Initially, policing jurisdictions were limited to districts, townships, and parishes. In 1877, ten years after Confederation, the Constables' Act extended jurisdiction and gave designated police members authorization to act throughout the province. The first salaried Provincial Constable appointed to act as Detective for the Government of Ontario was John Wilson Murray. With the discovery of gold and silver in Northern Ontario, lawlessness increased. Consequently, on October 13, 1909, an Order-In-Council decreed the establishment of a permanent organization of salaried constables designated as The Ontario Provincial Police. It consisted of 45 men under the direction of Superintendent Joseph E. Roger. The starting salary for constables was $400.00 per annum. The first O.P.P. detachment was located in Bala, Ontario. The OPP was willing and able to break strikes the Priminister would not allow the RCMP to interven in and from that day forward the OPP has cracked down on freedom on the whim of the Premier of Ontario, like at ipperwash. In 1921, restructuring was undertaken. The title of the commanding officer was changed to Commissioner. Major-General Henry M. Cawthra-Elliot was appointed as the first Commissioner. Gwen M. Boniface, the current O.P.P. Commissioner, took office in May 1998, succeeding Thomas O'Grady. Motorcycles were introduced in 1930 and the first patrol car in 1944. During World War II, the Veterans Guard was formed. This was a body of volunteers (primarily World War I veterans), who, under the supervision of regular police members, protected vulnerable hydro-electric plants and the Welland Ship Canal. Women joined the uniform ranks in 1974. In 1985, the O.P.P. uniform was made more distinctive with the introduction of a blue trouser stripe to match a blue peak cap band. In 1995, General Headquarters moved into its new facility in Orillia and for the first time in the history of the organization, all Bureaus were in one building. Organization
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Beatles folklore The 1967 Beatles Album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, contains cover art with Paul McCartney wearing an OPP badge on his fictional uniform (more easily seen in the gatefold picture). The badge was given to John Lennon the day after their 1966 concert in Toronto by a student working for the summer at the OPP Headquarters’ garage when The Beatles were transferred to a police van for the trip to the airport. Many "Paul Is Dead" enthusiasts have misread the patch as "OPD" (the way the patch was slightly bent on McCartney's sleeve in the gatefold picture, the bottom of the "P" was not visible) and took it to mean "Officially Pronounced Dead." OPP in Other Pop Culture Canadian rock musician Kim Mitchell regularly wore a baseball cap with the O.P.P. logo on it. Fleet Contact phone numbers 1-888-310-1122 will get you the closest O.P.P. from anywhere in Ontario. See also | ||||||||||||
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