The commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police (french: commissaire de la Police provinciale de l'Ontario) is the professional head of the
Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...
(OPP). The commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of the OPP operations.
Thomas Carrique has been the 15th commissioner of the OPP since June 6, 2019.
History
Pre-OPP
In May 1875, the first head of a provincial police force was
John Wilson Murray
John Wilson Murray (25 June 1840 – 12 June 1906) was a Canadian police officer and sailor in the United States Navy.
Biography
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he came to North America as a young boy. He joined the United States Navy on 5 June 1 ...
, who was a provincial constable appointed to the position of "Detective for the Province of Ontario". Murray was joined by two detectives under his command,
Joseph Edwin Rogers in 1884 and
William D. Greer in 1887. By 1887 Murray became Chief Inspector with Rogers and Greer becoming Inspectors.
Creation of OPP
Chief Detective Murray died in 1906, and in 1909, the Ontario Provincial Police Force was formally created. It consisted of 45 constables under the direction of
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
Joseph E. Rogers, who began as a detective under Murray in 1884.
In 1921, the force was reorganized as the OPP with the passage of the ''Provincial Police Force Act''. Major General Harry Macintyre Cawthra-Elliot was appointed to the newly created position of Commissioner.
In 1922, Joseph E. Rogers was dismissed from the force by
Victor Williams
Victor L. Williams (born September 19, 1970) is an American actor best known as Doug Heffernan's (Kevin James) best friend Deacon Palmer on ''The King of Queens.'' He has also appeared on several other hit TV shows, including '' Homicide: Life o ...
, thus ending his tenure as the head of the OPP.
Since 1939, most OPP Commissioners have been police officers (Eric Silk was a civilian) and some (12 up to 2018) promoted from current or former members of the OPP.
List of OPP Commissioners
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commissioner Of The Ontario Provincial Police
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