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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Mounties (RCMP) or "Gendarmerie royale du Canada" (GRC), is both the federal police force and the national police of Canada. The RCMP is descended from the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) and the Dominion Police, founded in 1873 and 1868 respectively. The NWMP was given the "Royal" title in 1904, becoming the Royal North West Mounted Police (RNWMP). In 1920, it was renamed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force when the RNWMP was merged with the Dominion Police. The RCMP acts as the federal police force of Canada, enforcing federal laws. It also has contracts with Canada's three territories and eight of its provinces to serve as their provincial/territorial police force. Most of Canada's provinces, while constitutionally responsible for law and order, prefer to sub-contract policing to the RCMP. They consequently operate under the direction of the provinces in regard to provincial and municipal law enforcement. The exceptions are Ontario, Quebec, and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, which have retained their own provincial police forces. Additionally, many towns and cities throughout Canada also contract the RCMP to serve as their municipal police force.
See Also: police
Term Source: www.wikipedia.org