History of BPS

Founding and early years

The Belleville Police Service was established in 1836, when the village of Belleville swore in its first two constables, Henry Avrill and Hiram Fulford. At the time the settlement had roughly 1,000 residents across 613 acres near the mouth of the Moira River. This makes BPS one of Canada's oldest police organizations — predating Kingston Police (1841), the RCMP (1873) and the Ontario Provincial Police (1909).

Belleville became a town in 1850 and a city in 1878. By that time the force had grown to six officers serving more than 9,500 people across 1,760 acres. By 1965, under Chief John B. McLauchlan, the service employed 41 personnel.

A first in Canadian policing

In 1936, Sergeant Arthur Booth gained recognition for hooking up one of the first radio receivers in a police cruiser in Canada. He assembled the equipment from secondhand parts and installed it in the department's sole cruiser, at a cost of approximately $30.

Headquarters over the years

Over its history the service has occupied several buildings, including the Fire Hall on Front Street, City Hall (1873), the Village Hall on Market Square (1905), a YMCA building on Campbell Street, and 93 Dundas Street East (1985). The current headquarters at 459 Sidney Street opened in fall 2020.