It surprised me to discover that the history of the Houston detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) is only 37 years old.

Smithers records show that in the 1920's, a policeman, Constable Fairburn, was sent once a week to Houston to attend to any "matters of law."

Of course in those days people tended to deal with difficult matters their own way and many problems would be resolved before Constable Fairburn's arrival.
It was not until the early 1960's that the Houston Chamber of Commerce pressed for full-time police coverage.

Nothing happened until February 1966, when a staff sergeant from the Prince Rupert Division was sent to Houston to assess the situation. What he found must have been quite an eye opener because as early as March of the same year, the Attorney-General's office gave the okay and a new detachment, with one officer, was opened.