Photo: Contributed

RCMP highway traffic cops across B.C. are now working under a new banner.

For nearly 20 years, traffic-focused Mounties operated as E Division Traffic Services or BC RCMP Traffic Services.

Moving forward, provincial traffic operations are now being called ‘BC Highway Patrol.’

“We believe this new name more clearly distinguishes our role and service delivery from the municipal and detachment traffic services,” said Cpl. Mike Halskov.

The new name will also mean a new motto: Making Our Highways Safer Together.

“You will begin to see our traffic vehicles with the familiar RCMP crest and our new identity of BC Highway Patrol or BCHP,” Halskov added.

The agency has about 455 dedicated employees in B.C. who conduct traffic law enforcement and collision investigations involving serious injury and death on BC’s provincial highways.

It also has a number of specialized units, including those dedicated to impaired driving, police services dogs, police motorcycle programs and the prohibited driving enforcement team.

Until the late 1980s, the BC Highway Patrol operated as a group of unarmed reserve constables that monitored the major crossings in the Lower Mainland.

Following the privatization of highways in 1988, the patrol was merged into an early version of today’s Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement Branch, joining commercial vehicle Weighmasters and Motor Vehicle Inspectors to form the Motor Vehicle Branch. A full history of the BC Highway Patrol can be found here.

Photo: MoTI

Patrolmen pose in front of Lions Gate during the mid 1970s