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.