The D Division is the division of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

responsible for federal policing in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and, at times,

northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

. Headquartered in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, the division is commanded by Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy and consists of 1089 police officers and 438 support staff.About D Division
/ref> As one of the 15 divisions of the RCMP, the D Division's federal policing duties include combating

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

, border integrity, and VIP protection, among others. D Division is also contracted by the Province of Manitoba to act as the provincial police.The Police Services Act
/ref> In that role, the division provides front-line policing to towns and rural areas which have not established their own police services.Manitoba First Nations angry about RCMP contract
/ref> In addition, some municipalities which are responsible under Manitoba law for their own policing have chosen to contract the RCMP to provide that service.Selkirk RCMP
/ref> As a result, the division provides front-line policing services to over 500,000 people spread over nearly all of Manitoba's 650,000 square kilometres, including some of Canada's most remote areas.

History

The D Division was created around 1874 by the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

(NWMP)—predecessor of the

(RCMP)—when its 275 officers and men were divided into six troops (i.e., divisions), identified by letters 'A' through 'F'. Initially located in

Fort Dufferin Fort Dufferin is a former Canadian government post near the Canada–United States border at Emerson, Manitoba. The fort was used during the 1870s as a base for the North American Boundary Commission and the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), ...

, D Division was stationed at the following locations between 1876 and 1919:

Fort Macleod, Alberta Fort Macleod ( ) is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It was originally named Macleod to distinguish it from the North-West Mounted Police barracks (Fort Macleod, built 1874) it had grown around. The fort was named in honour of the then Commi ...

(1876-1877), Shoal Lake (1878-1879), Battleford, Saskatchewan (1880-1886), Fort Macleod (1886),

Fort Steele, British Columbia Fort Steele is a heritage site in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. This visitor attraction lies on the east shore of the Kootenay River between the mouths of the St. Mary River and Wild Horse River. The locality, on the m ...

(1887-1889), and Fort Macleod (1889-1919). In 1919, D Division was assigned to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, where it remains today. In 1932, the RCMP moved into a building on Winnipeg's

Portage Avenue Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

that was constructed in 1927 as a home for the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

's William Booth Territorial Training College. The building was eventually replaced by the structure that stands today as the D Division headquarters. This new facility was opened between 31 May and 1 June 1979, and cost around $12 million.

Detachments

The RCMP in Manitoba provides policing services via 80 detachments, about 1000 regular members, and about 450 civilian and public service employees. The division's federal units are almost all based out of the division's headquarters building in Winnipeg, but with an Integrated Border Enforcement Team based out of Altona.

Provincial policing

The Province of Manitoba contracts the RCMP D Division to act as the provincial police. In that role, the division provides front-line policing to

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and rural areas which have not established their own police services. In addition, some municipalities that are responsible under Manitoba law for their own policing have chosen to contract the RCMP to provide that service. As a result, the division provides front-line policing services to over 500,000 people spread over nearly all of Manitoba's , including some of Canada's most remote areas. The province is divided into three geographical districts; north, west, and east, and each is commanded by a Superintendent. The districts are then divided into a total of 80 detachments. Some detachments are amalgamated, pooling resources together to serve a wider area more efficiently. The offices of an amalgamated detachments are referred to as a host and satellite offices. The division's provincial policing resources are mainly spread around the province, with some specialty and support units based out of the headquarters building. Few detachments within the division have the resources to have police officers on-duty 24 hours a day, but instead rely on on-call officers to respond during quieter hours. Telephone calls to the RCMP within Manitoba are often routed to the Operational Communication Centre, located within the headquarters building. The OCC is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with telecommunications operators, specialized civilians who are trained to take calls from the public and dispatch police officers. In addition to detachments, the RCMP maintains community offices in smaller communities which provides office space for RCMP members to use on a temporary basis, and patrol cabins which provide overnight accommodations to RCMP members travelling to remote communities where there is no permanent policing presence. The following communities have a detachment or satellite office of a larger detachment area. (

is home to the Manitoba Headquarters on

, as well as the

Winnipeg Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

detachment.) ''Areas without all-weather road access, instead accessible only by ice road, air, boat, or rail are denoted by a *, while district headquarters are in bold.''

North District

* Chemawawin (office in Easterville) *

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

* *

Cranberry Portage Cranberry Portage is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in the Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba. It was an important part of the pre-European contact trade routes of the Cree and Assiniboine peoples. L ...

* Cross Lake * Flin Flon * Gillam *

Gods Lake Narrows God's Lake Narrows is a community located in northeastern Manitoba in Canada. The community is located on the shores of Gods Lake, which is the 7th largest lake in the province. God's Lake has a maximum depth of 75 meters. Located 550 k ...

* *

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

* Island Lake* (office in Stevenson Island) * Leaf Rapids * Lynn Lake * Moose Lake * Nelson House * Norway House *

Oxford House The term Oxford House refers to any house operating under the "Oxford House Model", a community-based approach to addiction recovery, which provides an independent, supportive, and sober living environment. Today there are nearly 3,000 Oxford House ...

* * Pukatawagan* * Shamattawa* * Snow Lake *

The Pas The Pas ( ; french: Le Pas) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provinc ...

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

Wabowden Wabowden is a community in northern Manitoba. It is situated on Provincial Trunk Highway No. 6, which is the main route between Thompson and the provincial capital, Winnipeg. History The community originated in the early 20th century as a ...

West District

Amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely pack ...

Boissevain Boissevain is the name of a Dutch patrician family of Huguenot origin. History The family originates from the Dordogne in France. Lucas Bouyssavy (1660–1705) appears to have been the founder of today's Boissevain family.

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

(office in RM of Cornwallis) * Carberry *

Carman In Celtic mythology, Carman or Carmun was a warrior and sorceress from Athens who tried to invade Ireland in the days of the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with her three sons, Dub ("black"), Dother ("evil") and Dian ("violence"). She used her magical ...

(also serves Altona) * Dauphin (also serves Ethelbert and Grandview) * Deloraine * Elphinstone * Hamiota * Killarney *

Manitou Manitou (), akin to the Iroquois ''orenda'', is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the Native American theology. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. ''Aasha ...

(also serves Crystal City) * Melita * Minnedosa * Morden * Neepawa * Portage La Prairie * Reston * Roblin *

Russell Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

(also serves

Rossburn Rossburn is an unincorporated urban community in the Rossburn Municipality, Manitoba. Prior to 1 January 2015, Rossburn was designated as a town. It is near Waywayseecappo First Nation. There is an elementary school and a collegiate school. Rossb ...

* Russell) * Shoal Lake * Souris * Ste. Rose du Lac (also serves McCreary) * Swan River * Treherne * Virden *

Wasagaming Wasagaming (also known as Clear Lake) is the main townsite in the popular tourist destination Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada. It is located at the south gate of Riding Mountain National Park along Highway 10. This townsite is ...

Winnipegosis Winnipegosis is an unincorporated urban community in the Rural Municipality of Mossey River, Manitoba, Canada. It lies at the mouth of the Mossey River on Lake Winnipegosis The community was once categorized as a village, but this status was r ...

East District

* Arborg *

Ashern AshernCanada 2016 Censuspopulation 565) is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in the Municipality of West Interlake in Manitoba's Interlake Region. The RM of Siglunes was incorporated in 1917. Ashern was named ...

* Beausejour * Berens River* * Bloodvein * Emerson * Falcon Beach * Fisher Branch * Gimli * Grand Marais (office in RM of St. Clements) *

Gypsumville Gypsumville is a community in Manitoba, Canada. It is 242 kilometres north-northwest of Winnipeg in the Interlake Region of Manitoba on the north bank of Lake St. Martin in the Rural Municipality of Grahamdale. There are 285 people living in and ...

* Headingley * Lac du Bonnet *

Little Grand Rapids Little Grand Rapids is a community in east central Manitoba, Canada, near the Ontario border. It is located approximately 280 kilometers or 173 miles north-northeast from Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is a fly-in community, with only a winter road. ...

* * Lundar * Morris * Oakbank *

Peguis Peguis (ca. 1774 – 28 September 1864) was a Saulteaux chief, who moved from the Great Lakes area to Red Lake (now in Minnesota), then arriving in what is now southern Manitoba in the 1790s.Donna G. Sutherland, ''Peguis: A Noble Friend'', Chie ...

(office in Fisher Branch) *

Pinawa Pinawa is a local government district and small community of 1,331 residents (2016 census) located in southeastern Manitoba, Canada. It is 110 kilometres north-east of Winnipeg. The town is situated on the Canadian Shield within the western boundar ...

* Poplar River* * Powerview *

Red River North Red River North is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Manitoba that will come into effect at the 2019 Manitoba general election. It will elect one member to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The riding was created b ...

(formerly

East St. Paul East St. Paul is a List of rural municipalities in Manitoba, rural municipality (RM) in Manitoba, Canada. It is located north-east of and adjacent to the city of Winnipeg, and is part of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Area. The municipality was forme ...

) * SelkirkA Look Back at Policing in Selkirk
/ref> * Sprague * St. Pierre-Jolys * Steinbach *

Stonewall Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to: * Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction * Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics * Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...

Teulon Teulon is a town located approximately 59 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on Provincial Trunk Highway 7. Located between Stonewall and Gimli, Teulon is commonly referred to as "The Gateway to the Interlake". Teulon is surrounde ...

* Whitemouth *

Former detachments

* Altona — this area is now served by the detachment in

(west district) * Crystal City — this area is now served by the detachment in

(west district) * Ethelbert — this area is now served by the detachment in Dauphin (west district) *

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

— this area is now served by the detachment in Neepawa (west district) * Grandview — this area is now served by the detachment in Dauphin (west district) * McCreary — this area is now served by the detachment in Ste. Rose du Lac (west district) *

Opaskwayak Cree Nation The Opaskwayak Cree Nation (; OCN, Cree: ᐅᐸᐢᑿᔭᐠ , ''opâskwêyâhk'', meaning: at the wooded narrows) is a First Nations band government in Manitoba, Canada. Most of the on-reserve population lives near The Pas on the OCN 21E reserve ...

— policing transferred to the Manitoba First Nations Police Service in 2021 *

— this area is now served by the detachment in

(west district)

Support Units

The division houses units composed of police officers trained in specialized policing skills to provide support to the rest of the division or other police services within Manitoba under the division's duties as the provincial police. Some of these units include: * Emergency Response Team — providing advanced training and equipment to deal with situations such as armed and barricaded persons or high-risk search warrants *Explosives Disposal Unit — providing disposal of found explosives and improvised explosive devices, along with chemical, biological, or radiological dissemination devices, and post-blast investigations *Forensic Identification Services — collecting forensic evidence at crime scenes *Search and Rescue — locating lost people in remote areas; Search and Rescue Manitoba (SARMAN) is a shared responsibility between D Division, Manitoba's Office of the Fire Commissioner, and the Emergency Measures Organization. *Technological Crime — collecting evidence from technological devices *Tactical Troop — providing crowd control *Underwater Recovery Team — police diving unit for locating bodies or evidence underwater

Transportation

Policing such a large and often remote area requires presents transportation challenges. While the division employs the use of traditional police cars, the division also has many pick-ups, some equipped to run on train tracks, boats, snowmobiles, quads, and three

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...

aircraft,C-FMPK
/ref> two stationed in Winnipeg and one in

References

{{Reflist * D Royal Canadian Mounted Police headquarters Organizations based in Manitoba Crime and justice in Manitoba