Montreal Police Games rehabilitated the image of cops

Montreal residents held their police in low-esteem in the 1880s so police Captain Frank Loye - who had previously worked as a cop in Ireland - decided to change that.

Frank Loye

Loye launched the Montreal Police Games, an event that would pit Montreal's finest versus officers from Toronto and other cities.

"We sent private challenges to would-be pugilists and wrestlers. We formed a lacrosse team and tug of war team and took part in other games for purposes of showing we're not the slouches that we were represented to be," Loye said in 1906.

The athletic initiative aimed to curry citizen respect, while also possibly raising Montreal squad's wages. "It was admitted that our pay would be much better if we were as good men as they had in Toronto," he wrote in 1906.

The Montreal Police Games would go on to become an annual tradition until the early 1950s.

The athletic showdown, which featured jumping, tossing and running as well as a fat man's run, took place at the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association field on Sherbrooke Street near McGill campus. It was switched over to Molson Stadium after the field disappeared.

Montreal Police Games, year unknown

(Loye reported in a 1906 article that the games began in 1882 but subsequent references noted that it was founded in 1896, the discrepancy left unexplained.)

Montreal police officer Etienne Desmarteaux and his four brothers attained notereity for their success in the games in the early days. Desmarteaux went on to win Canada's first-ever gold medal at the 1904 Olympic Games. Montreal named a hockey rink on Bellechasse Street after him.

Henry Archer Ekers became the first Montreal mayor to take part in the ceremonies, as he appeared at a banquet for the affair at the St. James Hotel in 1906 which featured toasts and singing of the national anthem.

Louis Morel, at right

Officer Louis Morel won the top prize in the all-round competition in 1916. He would later quit the force and take part in a high-profile 1924 robbery that led him and several accomplices to be hanged.

Police squads from Vancouver, Scranton, Outremont and the Pinkerton Company sent lawmen to the 1920 competition, which saw Westmount's Arthur Maranda take top prize. Police officers from Baltimore, Detroit, Hamilton and elsewhere competed at the Montreal track and field event in 1928.

The competition continued throughout World War II, with the meet attracting around 12,000 onlookers at Molson Stadium in 1941, with Montreal's Ian Hume, (1914-2006) a 6'4" athletic wonder, who took top spot 13 years in a row.

Mention of the games became sparse after 1947 and the 1951 games appear to be the last time they were mentioned in newspapers. More photos below.