The California Police Olympics were first held in 1967. The concept evolved over the years and led to the creation of the World Police & Fire Games Federation—a non-profit organization, run by the Californian Police Athletics Federation—in 1983. Two years later, in 1985, the first World Police & Fire Games were held in
San Jose, California, USA, with nearly 5,000 competitors. The largest WPFG games to date was held in New York, New York, USA with over 16,000 athletes in attendance, from 59 nations. It was described, by the President of the World Police and Fire Games Federation, Mike Graham, as "the friendliest and best Games ever". The Montreal Firefighters Association called for a boycott of the 2017 Games, which were held in their own city, in protest against forced changes to collective agreements and pension funds. Labor unions representing over 100,000 firefighters and civil servants joined the boycott. ==Games==