Policing of the area now known as the Province of Alberta began in 1874 with the creation of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP). King Edward VII, awarded the title Royal to the North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) in 1904. Upon Alberta entering Confederation in 1905, Wilfrid Laurier proposed that the mounted police should remain in the new provinces, under contract to the provincial authorities for $75,000 per year apiece – about one-third of the actual operational cost – a solution which was approved by both sides. The workload on the police grew quickly as a consequence, with the criminal cases being handled almost trebling between 1905 and 1912 to over 13,000. Despite complaints from Commissioner Aylesworth Bowen Perry, the government refused to increase the establishment of the mounted police. By 1913, the provinces were expressing dissatisfaction about the service being delivered. Tensions grew between temperance campaigners and soldiers over the implementation of the liquor laws. The police barracks in Calgary were attacked in October 1916 by a crowd of over two hundred soldiers and civilians, who were trying to release six soldiers arrested for alcohol offences. The building was destroyed, one police officer was shot and several more injured.
