Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

ALBERTA PROVINCIAL POLICE CAP BADGE

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1930

Materials

ALUMINUM, COPPER

No. Pieces

2

Height

1.2

Length

5.2

Width

4.1

Description

SILVER BADGE. IN CENTER IS A CREST FEATURING A PRAIRIE LANDSCAPE IN THE FOREGROUND, WITH FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND. FLANKING CREST ARE 2 STEMS OF MAPLE LEAVES. ABOVE CREST IS A BANNER THAT READS "FIAT JUSTITIA", AND IS TOPPED BY A KING'S CROWN. BELOW CREST ARE THREE BANNERS THAT READ "ALBERTA" "PROVINCIAL" "POLICE" AND THERE IS A BOW BELOW THESE. ON BACK ARE 2 COPPER LOOPS THAT HOLD A COPPER SPLIT PIN.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

SAFETY SERVICES

History

BADGES P20020090001 & P20020090002 CAME TO MUSEUM MOUNTED ON A PIECE OF GREEN FELT (REMOVED BY CATALOGUER). ITEMS BELONGED TO DONOR'S FATHER, EDWARD ETTERSHANK BUCHANAN. BORN IN GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, WHERE HE BEGAN REGULAR SCHOOLING AT THE AGE OF 4, WHICH ENABLED HIM TO COMPLETE HIS HIGH SCHOOL BEFORE HIS PARENTS MOVED THE FAMILY TO CANADA IN MAY, 1914. THE FAMILY SETTLED IN EDMONTON, ALBERTA, WHERE EDWARD FOUND A JOB PLUS ENROLLED IN NIGHT CLASSES AT THE EDMONTON TECHNICAL SCHOOL TAKING ENGLISH, CANADIAN HISTORY, TRIGONOMETRY AND MANUAL TRAINING IN WOODWORKING. IN FEBRUARY 1917, THE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL POLICE WAS ORGANIZED. ED JOINED IN MAY OF 1920. IN 1922 HE MET AND MARRIED HIS WIFE, CHRISTENE - THE DAUGHTER OF A SWEDISH FARMER. THEY BEGAN THEIR MARRIED LIFE IN THE LOG CABIN DETACHMENT NEAR BEAVERLODGE, ALBERTA, AND HAD 2 SONS, 2 DAUGHTERS, THEN ANOTHER SON DURING AN 18 YEAR PERIOD. WHEN THE A.P.P. WAS DISSOLVED IN 1932 ED BUCHANAN CONTINUED HIS CAREER WITH THE R.C.M.P. AND WAS THE FIRST R.C.M.P. OFFICER TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE WEMBLEY DETACHMENT NEAR GRANDE PRAIRIE; ON CALL 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK. MUCH OF HIS WORK WAS DONE ON HORSEBACK WHEN A VEHICLE COULD NOT BE USED. IN 1935 HE WAS PROMOTED TO CORPORAL (AND THEN SARGEANT) IN CHARGE OF THE WESTLOCK DETACHMENT WHICH COVERED A HUGE AREA INCLUDING BARRHEAD THROUGH TO FORT ASSINIBOINE AND NORTH OF WESTLOCK TO SMITH. THEIR HOME INCLUDED THE COURT ROOM, OFFICE AND A JAIL CELL. THE PRISONERS ATE THE SAME FOOD AS ED AND HIS FAMILY (WHICH EARNED CHRISTENE 25 CENTS PER DAY WHENEVER OCCUPIED). HE USUALLY HAD 2 CONSTABLES TRAINING UNDER HIM. ED WAS INVOLVED WITH SEVERAL TRAGIC MURDER CASES AND ALWAYS ASSISTED THE CORONER WITH AUTOPSIES PLUS SENDING BODY PARTS INTO EDMONTON FOR EXAMINATION. IN 1944 ED WAS PROMOTED TO STAFF SARGEANT WITH A WARTIME MOVE TO LETHBRIDGE COVERING ALL OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA WITH SPECIAL DUTIES APPOINTED TO HIM; ONE BEING THE INSPECTOR OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE & CONTROL BOARD; ALSO INSPECTOR OF P.O.W. CAMPS. WITH REGARD TO SECURITY, HE ALSO REPRESENTED THE DEPARTMENT OF SECURITY CONTROL AND WAS OBLIGED TO INSPECT THE R.C.A.F. UNITS IN THAT AREA. HE SERVED AS THE SUB-DIVISION SENIOR NCO UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1950 WHICH COMPLETED 30 YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE. HOWEVER, HE DID NOT REMAIN INACTIVE. THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA APPOINTED HIM SUPERINTENDENT OF GAOLS WHICH TOOK HIM TO ALL THE INSTITUTIONS THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE RANGING FROM PEACE RIVER TO LETHBRIDGE. HE MOVED HIS FAMILY TO EDMONTON AS HIS OFFICE WAS IN THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT. HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN DEVELOPING NUMEROUS, PROGRESSIVE CHANGES BY HAVING INMATES GROW THEIR OWN FOOD SUPPLIES, SPECIAL WORK CAMPS IN FORESTRY AREAS, ETCETERA. CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELFARE OF RELEASED INMATES AND ESPECIALLY JUVENILE AND FIRST OFFENDERS, MR. BUCHANAN LOOKED AT THE OLD R.C.A.F. TRAINING DEPOT NEAR BOWDEN AND COULD SEE THE BENEFIT OF CONVERTING THE DORMITORY AND OTHER BUILDINGS INTO A SEPARTE PRISON FOR THE YOUNG AND FIRST-OFFENDERS AND IMPLEMENTING SCHOOLING AND TRAINING COVERING MANY PROFESSIONS THAT COULD EARN THEM DIPLOMAS FOR A BARBER, CARPENTER, WELDER, BAKER, HIGH SCHOOL, ETCETERA. UPON THEIR RELEASE, MANY WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN A GOOD JOB OR EVEN START THEIR OWN BUSINESS. ED ALSO RAISED UP THE BELMONT INSTITUTION WHICH HOUSED INMATES WHO HAD GOTTEN INTO TROUBLE DUE TO ALCOHOL PROBLEMS. HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PENAL INSTITUTION CHANGES WERE RECOGNIZED BOTH NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY. FOLLOWING A 2ND RETIREMENT IN 1965, HE CONTINUED AN ACTIVE ROLE THROUGHOUT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT IN CREATING A SPECIAL TRAINING SCHOOL IN EDMONTON FOR SMALL MUNICIPAL AND RURAL POLICE FORCES THAT LACKED PROPER FACILITIES. AT THE SAME TIME HE BEGAN DONATING HIS TIME TO SCHOOL CHILDREN BY SHARING SOME OF HIS EXPERIENCES, SOUVENIRS AND HISTORY OF THE R.C.M.P. THE STUDENTS WERE SO THRILLED WITH HIS PRESENTATION THAT HIS APPOINTMENT BOOK BECAME JAMMED. BY THE TIME HE TURNED 95, THEIR REQUESTS WERE RARELY ACCEPTED. ED WAS ALSO AN ACTIVE MEMBER AND PAST PRESIDENT OF THE R.C.M.P. VET'S ASSOCIATION; ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION; RECEIVED SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND HIS PHOTO DISPLAYED BY THE EDMONTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY; ACTIVE CHURCH MEMBER, IN WHICH HE SERVED TERMS AS ELDER AND STEWARD; LOVER OF THE BIBLE, HE ALWAYS HAD WITH HIM FROM THE TIME HE POLICED ON HORSEBACK AT THE AGE OF 20. ED PASSED AWAY ON DECEMBER 15, 1998. SEE HARD COPY FOR BIOGRAPHY. THE HISTORY OF THE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL POLICE BEGINS IN NOVEMBER 1916 WHEN A.B. PERRY, COMMISSIONER OF THE R.N.W.M.P., ANNOUNCED THE MOUNTIES COULD NO LONGER POLICE THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES. CONTRACTS WOULD BE CANCELLED AND SERVICES WITHDRAWN AT THE END OF THE YEAR. THE FIRST WORLD WAR (WHICH TOOK MANY MOUNTIES OVERSEAS TO SERVE IN THE MILITARY; AS WELL AS ADDING ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE MOUNTIES) AND THE MOUNTIE'S UNWILLINGNESS TO ENFORCE ALBERTA'S LIQUOR LAWS (PROHIBITION BEGAN IN 1915) WERE TO BLAME FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE MOUNTIES FROM THE PRAIRIES. ON MARCH 1, 1917 THE ALBERTA PROVINCIAL POLICE WERE OFFICIALLY IN CHARGE. THE NEW POLICE FORCE WAS UNDERSTAFFED, UNDERPAID, UNDERTRAINED AND OVERWORKED; AS WELL, ALBERTANS OBJECTED TO THE FORMATION OF THE A.P.P. HOWEVER, AFTER A ROCKY START AND SOME REORGANIZATION OF ITS ADMINISTRATION, THE A.P.P. SETTLED IN TO THE TASK OF POLICING ALBERTA. IT STARTED WITH FEWER THAN 100 OFFICERS, 50 HORSES, A FEW CARS, AND THE OBSOLETE 45-75 WINCHESTER CARBINES THE R.N.W.M.P. HAD BOUGHT IN 1873. THE FIRST A.P.P. UNIFORMS WERE SURPLUS METROPOLITAN POLICE UNIFORMS USED BY CLAGARY AND EDMONTON FORCES, TOTALLY UNSUITED TO THE RIGOURS OF RURAL POLICING. THE A.P.P. LATER ADOPTED A UNIFORM CLOSER TO WHAT THE MOUNTIES WORE, WITH BLUE FOR DRESS UNIFORMS AND KHAKI FOR THE WORKING UNIFORMS. AFTER ALBERTA REPEALED PROHIBITION IN 1924, THE R.C.M.P. REOPENED NEGOTIATIONS WITH ALBERTA; BUT BY THEN THE A.P.P. HAD GROWN AND HAD ACQUIRED A GOOD REPUTATION FOR ITS EFFECTIVENESS. SO, ALBERTA RESISTED THE R.C.M.P.'S ADVANCES, BUT AS THE GREAT DEPRESSION DEEPENED, ALBERTA COULD NO LONGER AFFORD ITS OWN POLICE FORCE. PREMIER JOHN BROWNLEE RELUCTANTLY APPROACHED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LATE IN 1931, AND ON MARCH 1, 1932 THE MOUNTIES WERE BACK AND THE A.P.P. WAS NO MORE. (TAKEN FROM CALGARY HERALD ARTICLE, JUNE 15, 2003). AN INTERVIEW ABOUT SENIOR STAFF SERGEANT EDWARD ETTERSHANK “BUCK” BUCHANAN’S POLICING CAREER WAS CONDUCTED BY GALT’S COLLECTION TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN ON JUNE 8, 2018 WITH HIS DAUGHTER JEAN I. BUCHANAN REGARDING A NEW ARTIFACT OFFER SHE MADE TO THE MUSEUM IN 2018. PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P20180014001 FOR THE ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION.

Catalogue Number

P20020090001

Acquisition Date

2003-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail