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==General police career==
Urquhart was transferred to the civilian [[Queensland Police]] service in 1891 and returned to [[Cloncurry, Queensland|Cloncurry]]. He led police activities against striking workers in the area during the [[1891 Australian shearers' strike]]. In 1894 he was assigned back to the [[Torres Strait]] and was based at [[Thursday Island]]. In the police vessel, the ''Albatross'', he patrolled the pearling operations in the [[Torres Strait Islands]], arresting striking workers. With [[John Douglas (Queensland politician)|John Douglas]], Urquhart conducted an exploration journey around the [[Embley River]] in 1895. Urquhart was promoted to inspector in 1897 and was transferred to [[Brisbane]] in order to head the Criminal Investigation Branch
Soon after Urquhart was appointed to the CIB, a number of botched police investigations into high profile murders such as the [[Gatton murders]], led to the 1899 Royal Commission into the Queensland Police. The Commission found that Urquhart was neglectful in his duties, unsuited to the position and untrained in detective work. It recommended that Urquhart be transferred out of the CIB and a more competent person be appointed to the role as head of the investigative branch.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217713782 |title=Police Inquiry. |newspaper=[[Toowoomba Chronicle And Darling Downs General Advertiser]] |issue=5916 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=5 December 1899 |accessdate=30 November 2019 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Despite the findings of the Commission, many of the recommendations were not acted upon and Urquhart remained head of the CIB for many years after the enquiry. In 1905 he was promoted to chief inspector of police. Urquhart again had a leading role in crushing striking unionists during the 1912 [[Brisbane]] general strike, the first mass strike of its kind in [[Australia]]. Urquhart mustered 2,000 police officers and special constables to attack a group of 15,000 striking workers. The officers were armed with bayoneted rifles and Urquhart threatened to use live ammunition if the marchers didn't disperse. Urquhart ordered mounted troopers to charge through the crowd. Many people were injured with two people probably being killed. Around 500 strikers were arrested.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111381305 |title=POLICE THREATEN TO SHOOT. |newspaper=[[The Bathurst Times]] |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 February 1912 |accessdate=30 November 2019 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Raymond |title=A History of Queensland |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge |location=Cambridge}}</ref>
==Queensland Police Commissioner==
On 1 January 1917 Urquhart was appointed as the 4th [[Queensland Police Commissioner]], a position he held until 16 January 1921. Probably the most notable incident during his tenure as Commissioner was the [[Red Flag riots]] that occurred in [[Brisbane]] in 1919. Police, together with armed ex-soldiers returned from WWI, fought extended street battles with unionists and Russian immigrants during these riots. Many casualties were reported with Urquhart himself being injured during the fighting.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40388753 |title=Wild Scenes in South Brisbane. |newspaper=[[Cairns Post]] |volume=XXXII, |issue=3314 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=25 March 1919 |accessdate=30 November 2019 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Later that same year, police operations were again focused upon when several striking workers were injured in [[Townsville]] after police opened fire on a group of unionists with live ammunition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220515289 |title=THE RIOTING IN TOWNSVILLE. |newspaper=[[The Daily Mail]] |issue=5209 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=1 July 1919 |accessdate=30 November 2019 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
==Administrator of the Northern Territory==
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