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 The Mississauga Police Department was born from the Toronto Township Police Department when the Township became the Town of Mississauga on January 1, 1968.
Toronto Township Police Department -1944
Excerpt from Cooksville, Country to City
by Kathleen A. Hicks
Joseph Allen was Toronto Township's first chief constable and Cooksville born Sidney Marshall Belford (b.1890, d. 1942) son of William and Matilda Belford, was constable and truant officer, who joined Allen in 1924. At a council meeting in June,1938, Sid was officially appointed Chief of the Toronto Police Department. He received a raise in pay and all fees and rewards were to be turned over to the Township's treasury. Sid was one of the Township's unspoken heroes, who was gentle and compassionate to others no matter what their crime. Ben L. Drennan, an officer of the Provincial Police Force, joined the Township Police Force and became chief in 1944. He was related to the Streetsville Drennans.
Benjamin L. Drennan from Streetsville also became a constable. He had got his training with the Provincial Police Force. In June, 1938, the Toronto Township council appointed Sid Belford as the Chief of the Township Police Force and he passed away in 1942.
The Toronto Township Police Department was officially formed in January, 1944, with Ben Drennan as Chief and A. E. Kilpatrick. as constable. On February 15, 1944, Garnet McGill became the third man on the force, as a police officer, making a three officer police force to handle the entire Township's police business. Within two months, Kilpatrick left to work with the Children's Aid Society .In the fall of 1945, Edward Cavan and Russ Lawrence joined the force. Six months later, Bruce Kivell and Gordon Stanfield were hired by acting Chief McGill. By summer, McGill was appointed Police Chief.
The first real police undertaking occurred on November 23, 1945, when McGill and Cavan investigated two boys being injured by grenades at the Lakeview Rifle Ranges. He and Constable Cavan went to the Army Camp and two army sergeants went with them with stretchers to bring the boys off the field. "We went out into the snow-covered field," McGill said later, "and we sure took it easy because there were other live grenades laying around out there. There is no doubt that somebody up there was looking out for us, ".
Once they got the boys out safely, they fired the field and hundreds of grenades blew up. They found out that four boys had skipped school and managed to get onto the Rifle Ranges property to explore". They came across some grenades and 11 year old Raymond McGinnis (a friend of this author) was killed when one exploded and two of the boys, Robert and James Whitworth, were injured. Danny McGinnis, scared and frightened, reported the tragedy to the Police Department. The incident captured one of the headlines of the Saturday Toronto Star on November 24, 1945, which read "Grenade Explodes, Boy Killed, Two Hurt."
The Military of Defence then had to carry out an investigation into the matter, the property was searched for further weaponry and fliers were circulated through the schools, warning children to stay away from the Rifle Ranges property .The Ranges were out of bounds for years and advertisements were constantly put in the local papers as warnings.
According to Chief Garnet McGill in 1970, "The police department was formed about 25 years ago for no other sinister reason than to curtail parking. The first magistrate in Toronto Township was Len Pallett, who used to get out of bed in the middle of the night to hold court right on the spot. In those days constables made their living by collecting a commission on each conviction."
In 1950, the department had two cruisers and the hope to install radio equipment, which came about in 1951, when Toronto Township council approved short wave radios and public address systems. Three-way radio systems, supplied by Pye of Canada, were then installed with the call letters XJ125. By this time, there were 13 men all toll on the force and it was estimated that each man was responsible for policing 1,500 to 2,000 persons.
In February, 1952, seven constables were added, including William Snarr, bringing the force to 20. The Toronto Township Police Department became the Mississauga Police Department when the Township became the Town of Mississauga on January 1, 1968. McGill retired in January, 1971, and Bruce Kivell was assigned Chief. Kivell's time was short lived when he developed macular degeneration of his eyes and had to leave the force in 1973. During Bruce Kivell's tenure as Chief there were 189 policemen and 20 civilian staff. Deputy Chief Doug Burrows stepped into his shoes as head over the Mississauga Police Department.
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