History

In the 1860s, Summerside wanted a registrar of deeds and a judge of probate in the courthouse, and better public meeting places. But a more pressing problem was the civil disobedience that accompanied the town's rise as a shipbuilding and trading port. A largely transient male population spent plenty of time in the alehouses, and incidents of drunken behavior and bawdiness were numerous. This disturbed the more affable mercantile class, and it was concluded that law enforcement should be placed in the hands of a local police department.

The idea of incorporation gained ground in 1874, a year in which the formation of a volunteer vigilance committee was formed to watch over the town at night. In April of 1876, the government enacted legislation appointing a Stipendiary Magistrate whose job it was to preside over the Police Court which met each weekday in the courthouse, and act as justice of the peace for the enforcement of both civic bylaws and provincial statutes.

The Town's Police Force, usually consisted of two regulars and the occasional special until well into the present century, kept a sharp watch or signs of fire and other disturbances. Unarmed, and relying totally upon the persuasiveness of the badge, early officers like Robert Hardy, Henry Bishop, Albert Gaudet, and J.A. Allen had to deal with alehouse fights, chivalries, street rows, temperance infractions and sometimes a serious crime. If a situation got out of hand the man hired to keep the Streets in repair was called in.

The Councilors had furnished oil for a privately owned street lamp in front of Gourlie's drug store and place another near the Police Station as early as 1876.