The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) provides policing services for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, which encompasses the cities of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge, as well as the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. The WRPS was established in 1973, to replace the individual police departments in the region. The cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Galt; the towns of Preston, Hespeler, Elmira and New Hamburg; the Village of Bridgeport and Waterloo Township had their own respective police department. The townships of Woolwich, Wellesley, Wilmot and North Dumfries were under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Provincial Police. In 1991 the Waterloo Regional Police Force was renamed to their current name.
Organization
On July 15, 2014, Bryan Larkin was named chief of police. He replaced Matt Torigian, who had been chief of police since December, 2007. In 1991, to minimize the negativity associated with the word force, the department changed its name from "Waterloo Regional Police Force" to "Waterloo Regional Police Service".
Headquarters
The WRPS' headquarters is located at 200 Maple Grove Road on the border with Cambridge and Kitchener. This site was chosen as it is geographically centre to all the urban areas within the region. Waterloo Regional Police Headquarters has a museum in the lobby complete with old uniforms, equipment and information on the departments prior to 1973.
Operational patrol divisions
North - formerly Division 3 - 45 Columbia St. E., Waterloo
Central - formerly Division 1 - 134 Frederick St, Kitchener
South - formerly Division 2 - 176 Hespeler Rd, Cambridge
Rural North - formerly Division 3A- 13 Industrial Dr, Elmira
Rural South - formerly Division 1A- 34 Peel St, New Hamburg
Branches and divisions
The Waterloo Regional Police Service is made up of:
Patrol divisions
North Division - serving the City of Waterloo, and areas of Kitchener not served by Central Division Central Division - serving the City of Kitchener (East of Victoria Street, south of Belmont Ave to Highland and south of Westmount to Highway 7/8) South Division - serving the City of Cambridge, and areas of Kitchener (Doon South, Trillium Industrial Park, Parkway, Hidden Valley) Rural North - serving Woolwich and Wellesley townships Rural South - serving Wilmot and North Dumfries townships
All divisions have a criminal investigations branch.
Investigative services
Homicide
Major case unit
Fraud branch
Traffic services
Forensic identification
Domestic violence unit
Elder abuse
Traffic
Collision reporting centre
Technical crime unit
Strategic and tactical services (Division 7)
Special response unit
Drug branch
Intelligence
Support services
Communications branch
Records branch
Evidence management
Court services
Information technology
Community and corporate services
Community resources
Human resources
Training branch
Quality assurancePolicing standards
Public complaints
Executive office
Media relations
Emergency planning
Research and planning
Business planning
Shoulder flashes
Shoulder flashes are worn on the uniforms of Waterloo Regional Police officers.