Niagara Parks Police
Established in 1887
Welcome to the Niagara Parks Police Service webpage!
Visitors to Niagara number more than 11 million people annually and they represent a culturally diverse world community. Our Police Service plays an important part in ensuring the safe and enjoyable stay of our visitors. Whether that is achieved through the efficient flow of traffic as controlled by our high profile officers, or by returning a visitor's lost article through a computerized property management system, it is our mandate to assist in providing visitors with a safe and relaxing time at Niagara Parks.
The Niagara Parks Police has 120 years of experience in serving the special needs of the tourism community. Today the Service patrols over 1,720 hectares (4,250 acres) of parkland along the Niagara Parkway between the towns of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie, Ontario. We concentrate our services in Queen Victoria Park, in the City of Niagara Falls, within sight and sound of the thunderous Canadian Horseshoe and American Falls. 
If you are coming to Niagara Falls for the first time, please do not hesitate to stop one of our officers, ask for directions when you are lost, or for assistance if you need help, for they are the people best trained to meet your needs.
Parks Police - What We Do
We are a specialized Police Service dedicated to serving the needs of the tourism community. We are responsible for the management of the vehicle and pedestrian flow of traffic, maintaining the peace, ensuring the safe return of lost property to its rightful owners, the discretionary enforcement, where required, of the Criminal Code of Canada and other federal and provincial statutes.
We enjoy the co-operation of other law enforcement agencies in Canada and the United States to best serve our visitors.
Training
Regular officers are trained in-house before attending the Ontario Police College for basic, intermediate and advanced constable training. Senior officers have received training from the Canadian Police College, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Uniform officers have specialized training in high angle rescue, identification services, technical accident investigations, radar traffic enforcement, first aid, physical fitness training, and quality service.
Crime Prevention - Tips for Travelers
The visitors and residents of Niagara Falls do enjoy a low crime rate. There are those few, however, who would take advantage of criminal opportunity against our visitors. Visitors are asked to be our partners in crime prevention and we have a few suggestions to help you ensure your property and valuables are not stolen:
- Always lock your valuables in the trunk of your vehicle
- Carry and use traveler's checks, credit cards or debit cards instead of large amounts of cash
- Be aware of your personal space, at automated teller machines and in crowded areas when you have to handle large amounts of cash, or when making purchases
- Keep your wallet or change purse deep within your purse or handbag, away from the nimble fingers of a pick-pocket thief
- If you carry a fanny pack, knapsack, or other baggage, keep your wallets to the front of your body, or deep within the baggage and away from the nimble fingers of a pick-pocket
- Do not place wallets in the exterior pocket of baggage
- Be aware of who is in your personal space, be alert if you are bumped into, check your valuables, make observations and notify Police if you have had something stolen
- Be aware most crimes are those of opportunity, perpetrated on the unsuspecting victim willing to reduce their personal space in crowded areas.
Community Services
The Niagara Parks Police also monitor the licencing of Tour Guides to ensure that quality and ethical standards are met while operating within Niagara Parks. Our members support and participate annually in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics and the Cops for Cancer fundraisers. Several thousands of dollars are raised each year in these worthwhile events. The Niagara Parks Police are also involved in virtually all special events that are held in the Park, ensuring that each one is safe and free from any inappropriate activity.
Lost & Found
A Lost & Found department is provided at the office of the Niagara Parks Police Service, at 6075 Niagara Parkway, located directly across from the American Falls in Queen Victoria Park. When a “finder” brings an item to Lost & Found, every attempt is made to determine proper ownership, so it can be returned to the rightful owner as quickly as is possible. A Lost item is held for 90 days - if it is not claimed after this period, the finder can put in a claim on the item. (Members of the Niagara Parks Police Service cannot submit a claim as a finder.) An unclaimed item that is deemed to have no value is disposed of, or if it is valuable it is donated to a charitable organization.
Visitors occasionally lose items over the gorge railings or parapet wall near the brink of the Falls. The only individuals allowed over these railings are Parks’ staff performing yearly rock-scaling operations, rescue efforts and periodic litter clean-up. All of these activities are undertaken with the utmost safety standards and procedures. Parks’ staff conduct litter clean-up on some exposed areas of the gorge wall at least once a month. It is Niagara Parks’ policy that items found by staff during these clean-ups are forwarded to the Lost & Found department.
Click here if you need to ask about a Lost & Found item.
