POLICE HISTORY:
Collection makes its debut with an open house
A new museum opened Friday in Baltimore police headquarters, displaying the history of the city’s Police Department with photos and artifacts.
A170-year-old desk sergeant’s logbook, an original Western District cell block and a 1905 collection of mug shots from Northeast Baltimore are among the artifacts on display at a new museum that opened Friday at city police headquarters.
The museum is free and will be open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays in the lobby of the police building at 601 E. Fayette St. The assembled items include police memorabilia, donations from active and retired members, and artifacts on loan from collectors.
Mayor Catherine Pugh said the museum will “broaden the way our community embraces the noble job of a police officer.”
“Baltimore police officers are an indelible part of our local history, and this museum really exemplifies that,” Pugh said at the museum opening. “I hope that people will walk through these doors and get a feeling of what police used to do in the days gone by as well as what our police officers are doing every day in our city.”
The story of Violet Hill Whyte — the first African-American and first woman appointed by the police commissioner in 1937 — is on display alongside exhibits that include espantoons — the characteristic Baltimore nightstick — badges and guns, such as the Thompson submachine gun that was used from the 1920s to 1970s. A 1974 strike poster and 1955 polygraph machine also are on display.
People can pose in front of an authentic police lineup and step into the 60-yearold cell block removed during the renovation of the Western District last year. An interactive display also offers information about the 136 city officers who died in the line of duty.
Kenneth Driscoll, a detective who retired in 2003 after breaking his back on the job, said he approached the department with the idea of establishing the museum. Commissioner Kevin Davis enthusiastically agreed and they got to work immediately, he said.
Driscoll lent the museum items from his private collection, built QR codes for the displays that allow people to use their smartphones to get more information, and plans to add more. The museum was built based in part on research from balti morecitypolicehistory.com, a website he maintains.
“I was a detective,” Driscoll said. “Instead of investigating criminals, I am investigating our history.
“I hope it will open people up and realize police are human beings, not robots. They’re your neighbors. We want the same thing they want: peace and no crime.”
Carol Cosgrove of Towson heard about the opening on a radio show and wanted to see the museum in person. She examined the exhibit on communications over the department’s more than 200year history and checked out a red, white and blue motorcycle on display.
“It gives the public a sense of how the department has worked for them through all of these conditions,” she said, gesturing to murals that line the wall depicting the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, the Great Fire of 1904 and other events.