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Great majority of B.C. Police enter ranks of R.C.M.P.

Premier Johnson says changeover will effect saving of
$1,500,000 tn first full year.

NE MINUTE after midnight on
() August 15 of this year the

brown and scarlet uniforms of
the R.C.M.P. figuratively replaced the
khaki uniform of the British Co-
Jumbia Provincial Police, according
to an agreement between the Gov-
ernment of Canada and the Province
of British Columbia announced joint-
ly by Premier Byron I. Johnson and
Attorney-General Gordon S. Wismer.

No ceremony or fanfare marked the
changeover from the historical B.C.
Force to the scarlet riders. The great
majority of B.C. Police entered the
ranks of the R.C.M.P.

Assistant Commissioner A. T.
Belcher heads the R.C.M.P. in British
Columbia and brings with him 31
years’ experience in police work across
the Dominion, having joined the
federal force as a trumpeter at the
age of 16. He replaces B.C. Provincial
Police Commissioner Roger Peachey,
M.C., who retired. Second in com-
mand of the R.C.M.P. in B.C. is
Superintendent C. W. Harvison, who
was commanding officer of the Van-
couver Division of the R.C.M.P. prior
to the changeover.

Saving of $1,500,000

In addition to achieving unity of
policing in the interest of national
security, a saving of approximately
$1,500,000 in the first full year of the
agreement’s operation will be effected,
the Premier stated. A substantial
saving also is anticipated during the
current fiscal year.

The transfer officially took place on
August 15. On that date, all but a
very small group of officers and men
transferred to R.C.M.P. administra-
tive jurisdiction. Some fifteen of the
B.C. Police personnel were found un-
acceptable for various reasons, while
nine executive officers, who were
nearing retirement age, were super-
Page Two

annuated by the Provincial Govern-
ment.

The nine officers retired were Com-
missioner Roger Peachey, M.C.,
Deputy Commissioner Cecil Clark,
Insp. Richard Harvey, Insp. C. K. Mc-
Kenzie, Insp. F. W. Swanson, Insp.
H. H. Mansell, Sub-Insp. Alex Mac-
donald, Sub-Insp. W. J. Thompson
and Sub-Insp. G. A. Johnson.

Under the new agreement the basis
of financing the policing of British
Columbia is at the rate of $1,400 per
man per annum subject to certain
variations which must have mutual
consent. The annual cost will amount
to $770,000 subject to these variations,
the Attorney-General stated.

Superannuation Protected

Concurrently with the signing of
the agreement, the Attorney-General
sent personal letters to each and every
member of the B.C. Police, explaining
to each one the basis of his transfer.
The salary is substantially the same
amount as he received before the
changeover. The basic pay in most in-
stances will be much higher, but in
the event that his previous salary,
allowances and cost-of-living bonus
paid by the Provincial Government,
was greater than he receives from the
R.C.M.P., the Provincial Government
will pay a severance grant equal to
the amount of the loss for the period
between August 15 -and March 31,
1952. The superannuation benefits
have been fully protected both as to
past and future service. The Do-
minion plan is more generous than
those provided by the Province.

In order to insure that the person-
nel transferred (including both men
and women) were fully protected in
respect to superannuation, that is to
say in order that the personnel shall
receive a pension equivalent to that
they would have received if they had
been with the R.C.M.P. from the date

of their first employment with the
B.C. Police, it was necessary to supple-
ment the aggregate amount to the
credit of officers and men, together
with employer’s contribution present-
ly in the Provincial superannuation
account by approximately $1,100,000.
In connection with the provisions for
superannuation, it was explained
that the R.C.M.P. has several pension
plans. The Provincial Government
chose the one that was most generous
to the personnel. Cost to the Pro-
vincial Government of providing the
severance grant to transferred per-
sonnel is estimated at $250,000.

Benefits

In transferring to the R.C.M.P., the
personnel of the B.C. force benefit
from the following additional ad-
vantages:

(1) All Royal Canadian Mounted
Police pay as well as allowances
plus a fixed amount of $120 per
annum for clothing and medi-
cal treatment are pensionable,
whereas the B.C. pension is
based on the basic pay only.

(2) Full medical and dental treat-
ment and hospitalization.

(3) Increased promotional oppor-
tunities.

(4) Free clothing and kit issues on a
substantial scale.

The Attorney-General was assured
that no wholesale transfers of mem-
bers to other provinces were contem-
plated and that the R.C.M.P. train-
ing, where necessary, will be modified
in accordance with the age and
physical condition of the man.

Of the twenty commissioned officers
in the B.C. Police, nine were not
transferred to the R.C.M.P. In con-
nection with these nine officers, the
Attorney-General pointed out that
one of the difficulties met with in the
negotiations was the fact that the

THE SHOULDER STRAP