The picture accompanying this column should tug at the memories of some of the older readers of this column – and perhaps, to a few, bring some unpleasant memories of foolish incidents from their youth. It was taken almost 51 years ago, in Harriston. The image depicts the members of the Wellington County Police Association at their annual meeting in December, 1959.
The Ontario Provincial Police have sole jurisdiction over police matters in this county since 1999. Before that, the OPP operated in rural townships and in those jurisdictions that had contracted with them. Several of the towns and villages still maintained their own local forces at that time. That situation was a remnant of the 19th century. In that era smaller municipalities had, at best, one officer, who was always on duty. Some smaller municipalities employed only a part time constable.
Before the 1920s, the cards were stacked very much in favour of the criminal. Local constables were invariably inept, and there was little interest in co-operating with officers in other jurisdictions. Most had no training whatever. In a few cases, the local officers had formerly been with a big city force, but had been dismissed for drinking or improper behaviour.
With the enforcers of law and order so poorly trained and organized, a quick flight from a municipality meant that there was only a slim probability of detection and capture. Given those circumstances, it is surprising that 19th century crime rates were as low as they were.
There were a few provincial constables before the creation of the Ontario Provincial Police, and they might be brought in to investigate very serious cases. But it was not until the 1920s that the OPP became an effective policing force in Ontario.
Over time, the OPP officers, with their superior training, became a respected force, and would often be called upon by local constables to assist with a major crime such as a homicide or bank robbery. At various times in the 20th century, several municipalities opted to abolish their own forces and contract policing to the OPP. Elora, for instance, switched twice to the OPP, then back to a local force.
Economics was often a factor in those decisions, but there could be other issues. Local nabobs sometimes thought that they had special rights to break minor laws and regulations, and those citizens could become hostile indeed when an impartial OPP officer handed them a ticket or summons.
At some point in the mists of local history the members of the local police forces in Wellington organized themselves into the Wellington County Police Association. There is virtually nothing in the surviving historical record about this group. The photo this week is one of the few items that prove the group actually existed. The occasion was the annual meeting of the group. There are 12 police offers in the photo, and the names of 11 of them are noted on the back.
A brief story in the Harriston Review of Jan. 7, 1960 notes that the Police Association met in Palmerston for their annual meeting in December 1959, but does not give the precise date or location. It is probable that the men sat down to a dinner as part of the evening. As well as the election of officers for 1960, the policemen heard an instructive talk by Detective Sergeant Robert MacCarron of the Guelph Police Department on the investigation of criminal offences.
Four of the men depicted hail from the Fergus force, three from Palmerston, two from Harriston, and one each from Elora and Arthur, plus one unidentified. That leaves Erin, Drayton, and Mount Forest unrepresented. The OPP may have been serving one or more of the latter in 1959.
For the coming year of 1960, the officers selected Forrest A. Inch, of Palmerston, as their president, with Doug Wiltsie, of Fergus, and Ted Zimmer, of Harriston, as vice presidents. A.J. Picken, of Fergus, agreed to fill the dual positions of secretary and treasurer.
From the activities at that meeting, the Police Association combined professional training with a social evening. The building of good relations among the various forces in the county was a big asset to fighting crime. Officers were much more likely to share information with and assist other men whom they knew and respected personally.
The Harriston Review was the only weekly with an account of the police association’s annual meeting that year. There was probably an account in the Palmerston Observer, but the issues of that period have not survived.
The lack of publicity is not surprising. This was a small group, closed to the public, and its meetings were not covered by reporters. On the rare occasions when the group was mentioned at all in a local weekly, the information is usually sketchy, suggestion that the editor gleaned the information after speaking with a local police officer.
I spent several hours in an unsuccessful attempt to find out more about the Wellington County Police Association. Perhaps some readers can help fill in the story, or have written material that might be placed in the Wellington County Archives.