Herchmer was "a capable administrator", but being hot-tempered and overbearing, he gained a "reputation as a tyrant" during his tenure as commissioner. Nevertheless, the force under his command gained better benefits, living conditions, organization, and training, and more respect, with a marked improvement in "esprit du corps". His personality earned him a number of political enemies, leading to charges of mismanagement that produced a judicial inquiry in 1892 (which cleared him) and culminated in his dismissal in 1900, while he was serving with the Canadian Army in South Africa. Herchmer considered his firing unjust, and continued to say so until his death.