In some urban areas, municipalities have their own police forces, while neighbouring communities contract with E Division.

For example, Richmond is patrolled by E Division while neighbouring Vancouver has its own police force; both organizations contribute members and resources to various regional initiatives.

In this structure, they have the ability to mobilize large numbers of police officers from within the province and across Canada in the case of a crisis, and access a wide range of specialized units to tackle local and cross jurisdictional crimes.

One of the most notable was the 2007 death of Robert Dziekański, who was tasered multiple times after being encountered by four E division officers despite being unarmed and being held alone in a secured room at Vancouver International Airport.

Attracting international media attention, the investigation took a turn when a cellphone video, taken by a member of the public behind a glass wall and released weeks after the incident, contradicted portions of the reports given by the officers involved and also some RCMP spokespersons.