Ontario Provincial Police
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The Ontario Provincial Police, also known as the OPP, are the province of Ontario's police force. The organization is responsible for providing police service to localities in the province that do not otherwise have municipal or regional police services. Therefore, they are mainly present in small rural and suburban localities, on the provincial highways or in the northern part of the province. They also have a mandate to investigate province-wide crimes. It was originally founded in 1909 with 45 men to bring peace and order to the province's northern regions where mines and logging camps were experiencing delinquency. The organization was rendered permanent when constables became necessary in Ontario's small towns.
The OPP Headquarters are located in Orillia. The force employs roughly 5300 officers. Recruits are trained at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, then in their training facilities in Orillia. The first OPP detachment was in Bala. The current OPP commissioner is Gwen Boniface. The OPP is the second-largest police service in Canada; only the RCMP outnumbers the force in manpower.
The OPP has among its many initiatives an auxiliary program designed especially for citizens interesting in receiving first hand experience in the organization. It is a volunteer program where citizens join and receive a special training in order to assist provincial constables in their duty.
The OPP is now the largest police force in Ontario. It is larger than both the Metropolitan Toronto and the Ottawa city police force. It is similar in concept to the RCMP in the sense that it is a quasi-military organization. The ranks of the OPP are as follows: Provincial Constable; Sergeant; Staff Sergeant; Sergeant Major; Inspector; Superintendant; Chief Superintendant; and Commissioner.