Nelson Police Department - Nelson, British Columbia
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T0SHEA
N 49° 29.426 W 117° 17.681
11U E 478658 N 5482018
Nelson Police Department is located at 606 Stanley Street.
Waymark Code: WMHMV4
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 07/24/2013
Views: 1
Nelson Police Department moved to their current location in 2002. There are 20 dedicated police officers on the force. Some of the officers still do beat patrol in the historic Baker Street district.
We have been to Nelson on several occasions in the last few months and have not required their services or jailhouse.
Some History about the Nelson Police Department:
"Nelson Police Department Police History
The Nelson Police Department is among the oldest in the Province. It came into being as a municipal police force on April 17th, 1897. Nelson’s vibrant history is matched by the lively personalities who have served on this police authority over the years.
The initial force consisted of a Chief Constable and one Constable. Robert A. Winearls, appointed the first Chief Constable, quit over a salary dispute less than one month after he was hired, on May 9th, 1897. His successor was Seneca G. Ketchum, who acted in the capacity of Chief until the next Chief was appointed. The salary at that time of $65 per month was debated frequently during those early days at City Council, and was increased to $80 per month on June 7, 1897.
In early summer 1897, Chief of Police, Ketchum, during celebrations of the Queen’s Jubilee and the Fourth of July the celebrations became so extreme that the whole city’s government became incapacitated from doing business for a week.
Ketchum was quoted in the Nelson Daily Miner (March 20th, 1899) saying that the Mayor began the celebration and was found to be celebrating in a manner “altogether wild and western,” and that he was compelled to arrest him.
In the early days of Nelson, the brothels were situated at the east end of Baker Street. By the beginning of the 1900’s, public discontent led to the relocation of the brothels to Lake Street. The women of Lake Street were rarely seen in public, as they needed special permission from the Chief of Police to go out during the day.
Historical urban legend has Nelson policemen throwing rocks against the side of the houses on Lake Street, knowing that they would get called, and once their investigation was complete would get invited in for a beer. They conducted regular raids of the Lake Street houses and fines were given to the inhabitants. Further rumor involves reports that one Madame got so tired of the police raids that she went to City Council and offered to buy new uniforms for the Police if they agreed to leave her establishment alone. Apparently, City Council agreed.
The location of the Police Station itself also features a diverse history. The initial Police Department, along with City Hall offices, was housed in a small building at the foot of Front Street. When the Provincial Jail facility vacated its premises at the location of the present City Hall White Building, the Police Department had grown sufficiently to utilize the larger facility, complete with existing jail cells. At various points in their history, the Police Department occupied the second floor of a building at the corner of Vernon and Stanley Street and the bottom floor of the building housing the present Salvation Army store at the foot of Josephine Street.
The Department finally moved to its existing quarters at 606 Stanley Street in 1992, the former location of the Nelson Detachment of the RCMP. The current home also accommodates the By-law Officers and Victim Services, and the Cell Block at this location also serves as a remand centre for RCMP prisoners.
Over the hundred and fifteen years of its existence, the Nelson Police Department has grown from two to twenty members. Chief Constable Wayne has been the Chief Constable since 2011.
Today, the Nelson Police deal with a wide range of problems. Our modern, technologically dependent society has produced a complex web of laws which must be enforced by police. Societal and cultural evolution has resulted in more stringent standards for conduct of police members. But the fact remains that today, as in 1897, Nelson is a community still small enough for its residents to know and help each other. Community-based policing is a much desired concept in many other communities in the twenty-first century, but it has always been a fact of life in Nelson. Nelson residents can still experience the presence of the beat officer patrolling on foot on its historic streets."
Excerpts from Nelson Police Department website: http://nelsonpolice.ca/history/