The Mounted Squad: An Illustrated History of the Toronto Mounted Police 1886-2000

Wardle, Bill

ISBN 10: 1550416316 / ISBN 13: 9781550416312

Published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2002

About this Item

Stiff unmarked book in clean black cloth; in illustrated dust jacket protected in mylar sleeve. ; 10.9 X 9.1 X 1.2 inches; 498 pages.

Seller Inventory # 56571

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Mounted Squad: An Illustrated History of the Toronto Mounted Police 1886-2000
• Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1550416316
• ISBN 13: 9781550416312
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • History-Canada

About this title

Synopsis

Mounted Police forces have been an important component in law enforcement around the world. Their effectiveness in crowd control is unequalled, and the sight of handsome and disciplined horses ridden by handsome, disciplined officers remains a romantic element in the lives of many people, particularly young boys and girls. Mounted Police forces remain remarkably durable in an age where many of our historical practices have been put on the shelf. This book examines why.

The first Mounted Police force was established in London, England in 1805 by Sir Richard Ford. It was known as the Bow Street Runners (London had had earlier, successful experiments with such forces under Henry and John Fielding, during the 1760s, but the official designation was not approved until later.)

Toronto's official mounted police force was not created until January 1886 (when two officers were assigned to full time duties), although in 1881, the police commission approved the purchase of seven used saddles which could be thrown across the backs of livery horses when the need arose. The Toronto Street Railway Strike in March 1886 was the first serious test of the new force's grit, and the Mounted Squad performed brilliantly. From that point on, its future was secure.

This comprehensive history of the Toronto Mounted Police provides not only a record of its achievements, and the patrolmen and horses who made them possible, it also charts, through many never before published photographs, the growth of Toronto as a city and the many traditions that growth has created.

Wardle's chronicle makes engrossing reading for historians, horse-lovers, and law-enforcement officers alike.

About the Author

Bill Wardle