50/100 ... book 'em, Dano

Almost everyone is intrigued with "bad guys" and the "good guys" that catch them. There are more police/crime dramas on television than any other genre. The National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington DC is one of the most popular museums in the country - and, incidentally,  one I highly recommend! An informal survey I conducted at the airport revealed more people read mystery/crime novels than any other - although Romance Writers of America claim more Americans read romance novels than any other genre... sigh... but that's a blog post for another day. For all those reasons, I wasn't terribly surprised to discover that a Phoenix Police Museum  (#50 on my "100 Things in Arizona" list) existed in the heart of downtown Phoenix and was excited to explore it on a Friday afternoon in early November. In fact, we had tried to go earlier in the year but it was closed for several months while it moved to a "new" location in the Historic City Hall on 2nd Avenue and Jefferson Street. Actually, the museum "came home" - and its homecoming is one of those things that just makes you smile!

The Phoenix Police Museum was founded in 1994 by Mike Nikolin, a 30+ year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department. Mike believed that the public both deserved and wanted to know what their police department did and how it has evolved over the past century. He put together a small exhibit that was displayed in the Historic City Hall for about six months in 1994. The display expanded and was moved to the Barrister Place Building at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street until that building was closed in 2011. Mike and a small army of volunteers (active duty and retired police officers as well as citizens) worked tirelessly to obtain space at the Historic City Hall, the place where the exhibit first was shown and where Phoenix's first police department was housed many decades before. After space was secured, the move began and the collection of artifacts and exhibits was expanded.

Although the museum is small by museum standards, it is packed with all kinds of memorabilia from yesteryear. One of the first things we saw when we walked in the door was a replica of the Marshal's Office with a jail cell from the early days. And the 19th century Phoenix "Jail Rock" to which prisoners were chained until their sentences had been served.

"John Doe" got into a lot of trouble... usually "drunk and disorderly!" This page showed crimes from June, 1900.

This 1919 Ford Model T was one of the first police cars used by the Phoenix Police Department.

We were the only visitors in the museum so the curator (all of them are retired Phoenix police officers) gave us a personal tour explaining the exhibits and adding personal stories from his experience as a veteran Phoenix police officer as well as stories he heard or read about. His knowledge of "standard-issue police equipment" through the decades was fascinating. For example, at one time, "brass knuckles" were standard issue - now just the "bad guys" have them.

Guns, batons, radios... everything has changed with technology.

And speaking of technology, the bomb disposal display is amazing. In the beginning, officers wore "special uniforms" that don't look like they'd protect them from an exploding can of Coke much less a real bomb and placed the bomb in a special container to remove it to a secure location. Later, robots came into play. Think Rosie on the 1960's tv show The Jetsons. 

"LeRoy" (left) was the first bomb disposal robot the Phoenix Police Department had. He was followed by "Sweet Pea" (right) who could get into more places due to her track "feet" and longer extension "arms."

The Memorial Room is inspiring. Light streaming through the handmade stained glass windows reflected off the wall with framed photographs of officers killed in the line of duty. Beside each photograph was a short biography. Another wall memorialized the canine officers killed in the line of duty - all of them died protecting their human partner. In the center of the room is a large statue depicting a policeman draped over a coffin out of which rises a smiling policeman angel raising a sword and a shield with the word "Honor" engraved on it. Messages written by loved ones of the fallen officers are sealed inside the marble base - like a time capsule. The sculpture is partially made of melted bullets and badges of the fallen officers. 

The Memorial Room is a quiet place to reflect on the many sacrifices police officers and their families make to ensure our safety.

There are many other displays and exhibits - the first helicopter used by the Phoenix Police Department in 1973, uniforms through the decades, a piece of an I-beam from the Twin Towers that the New York City Fire Department donated in appreciation of all the law enforcement and first responders that Phoenix sent when the Twin Towers were hit on September 11, 2001,  a motorcycle that kids of all ages can sit on, the evolution of law enforcement in Arizona (did you know there were Arizona Rangers (like Texas Rangers) at one time?) and much more. There is definitely something for everyone!

Thumb Up or Down: Up!

Miles Round Trip: 45.0 miles

Miles To Date: 10,758.7 miles

Percent of List Completed: 95%

Date of This Trip: November 9, 2012