Toronto Police Service

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is the police force servicing Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1834, it was the first municipal police service created in North America and one of the oldest police services in the English-speaking world. It is the largest municipal police service in Canada and third largest police force in Canada after the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

At a budget of over $1 billion, it ranks second only to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in the budgetary expenses of the municipal government of Toronto.

History

1834 creation to 1859 reforms

The Toronto Police Service was founded in 1834 when the city of Toronto was first created from the town of York. (Prior to that, local able-bodied male citizens were required to report for night duty as special constables for a fixed number of nights a year on the pain of fine or imprisonment in a system known as "watch and ward".)

The Toronto Police is one of the English-speaking world’s oldest modern municipal police departments; older than, for example, the New York City Police Department which was formed in 1845 or the Boston Police Department which was established in 1839. The London Metropolitan Police of 1829 is generally recognized as the first modern municipal department. In 1835, Toronto retained five full-time constables—a ratio of about one officer for every 1,850 citizens. Their daily pay was set at 5 shillings for day duty and 7 shillings, 6 pence, for night duty. In 1837 the constables’ annual pay was fixed at £75 per annum, a lucrative city position when compared to the mayor’s annual pay of £250 at the time.

Toronto

Toronto (ⁱ/təˈrɒntoʊ, -tə/,local /təˈrɒnoʊ, ˈtrɒ-/) is the most populous city in Canada, the provincial capital of Ontario, and the centre of the Greater Toronto Area, the most populous metropolitan area in Canada. In the 2011 census, Toronto had a population of 2,615,060, making it the fourth most populous city in North America, after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. An alpha global city, Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is widely recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years. The urban history of the city dates back to 1787, when British officials negotiated the Toronto Purchase with the Mississaugas of the New Credit. They established the Town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York and suffered heavy damage by U.S. troops. York was renamed and incorporated as the City of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario in 1867. The original borders of Toronto were expanded through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history, the results of which can been seen in the 140 independently unique and clearly defined official neighbourhoods that make up the city.

Old Toronto

Old Toronto is the retronym of the original city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the Town of York, and became part of York County. In 1954, it became the administrative headquarters for Metropolitan Toronto. It expanded in size by annexation of surrounding municipalities, reaching its final boundaries in 1967. Finally, in 1998, it was amalgamated into the present-day "megacity" of Toronto.

Post-amalgamation, the area within the boundaries of the former city is variously referred to as the "former city of Toronto" or "Old Toronto". Historically, Old Toronto has referred to Toronto's boundaries before the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, when much of city's development was to the east of Yonge Street. The term "downtown core" is also sometimes used to refer to the district, which actually refers to the central business district of Toronto, which is located within the former city.

Old Toronto is the densest area in the Greater Toronto Area.

Toronto Professional Hockey Club

The Toronto Professional Hockey Club was Toronto's first professional ice hockey team, founded in 1906. The team played the 1906–07 season in exhibition games against other professional teams. In 1908, the team was one of the founders of the Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL). The club operated for two seasons in the OPHL, 1908 and 1909, before disbanding. The club challenged unsuccessfully for the Stanley Cup in 1908. They were usually referred to as the Toronto Argonauts.

The team featured several prominent players of the time, including Newsy Lalonde who would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and Bruce Ridpath, who would manage the Toronto entry in the National Hockey Association (NHA), fore-runner of the National Hockey League (NHL).

History

On November 14, 1906, the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) banned Bruce Ridpath, Rolly Young and Harry Burgoyne from playing with the Toronto Marlboros. The three had been receiving money to play, strictly banned by the OHA. On November 22, Ridpath announced the formation of the Toronto Pros. Ridpath would be captain, and Alexander Miln was named as manager. Miln was manager of the Mutual Street Rink and had previously managed the Toronto Wellingtons, Stanley Cup challengers in 1902. On November 24, Miln attended a meeting of the International Hockey League (IHL) and secured a place in the IHL for the Pros for the 1907–08 season. For the initial season, the Toronto Pros would play only exhibition games.