Then & Now
St. Albert’s Law Enforcement Then & Now BY ROBERT MICHON
ST. ALBERT IS consistently ranked
one of the safest cities in Alberta, and this is thanks in no small part to the efforts of the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police. While the RCMP have served the citizens of St. Albert for a long time, they weren’t the first police force in the town. St. Albert has a long history of law enforcement, ranging from early frontier justice to citizens’ militias.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, St. Albert detachment.
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The North West Mounted Police, 1876-1896 St. Albert’s first real law-keepers were the North West Mounted Police, a national police force created by John A. Macdonald who sent these officers to the Canadian Prairies in 1874 to keep the peace on the new frontier. While these officers technically held jurisdiction in St. Albert, it’s unlikely that they ever came to the fledgling settlement during this time, as most of them were busy chasing whiskey smugglers and cattle thieves in the south,
