The British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) was the policing body for the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 until 1950. The force is usually dated from the appointment of Chartres Brew

Chartres Brew

Chartres Brew was a Gold commissioner, Chief Constable and judge in the Colony of British Columbia, later a province of Canada....

 in 1858 with the formation of the Colony of British Columbia

Colony of British Columbia

The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...

 and associated appointments. While Chartres Brew often signed his correspondence as either Chief Constable of the colony and Chief Inspector of Police for the new mainland colony

Colony of British Columbia

The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...

 in 1858, he was never in fact given this position; he was technically the Chief Gold Commissioner

Gold Commissioner

Gold Commissioner was an important regional administrative post in the Colony of British Columbia.In the 1860s, Governor Douglas had three priorities to protect the two colonies he governed: to protect the boundaries, to uphold law and order and to provide access to the gold fields...

 and later a Stipendary Magistrate.