In Cincinnati, Ohio there is a place where you can see crime and punishment, good guys and bad guys, heroes and villains and murder weapons. What a combination right?
The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum is located at 959 West 8th Street and has everything and more listed above. The museum was built for people to understand the history of law enforcement and how far technology has advanced. While we were in Ohio visiting my aunt, she thought that we would like to see this place because my husband always wanted to be a police officer when he was younger.
The museum has more than one hundred artifacts from different law enforcement agencies from counties located in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. You are able to explore the lives of the men and women that have served and see first hand how law enforcement has changed over the years.
The coolest part I thought in the museum was the large display case of murder weapons used in actual murders that were donated by William Foster Hopkins. William was a local defense attorney and author of the book Murder Is My Business.
In the display case they featured hammers, bayonets, bombs, guns and other murder weapons that were all labeled with the murder that they were used in, like the “Love Car Murder”, “The Bedroom Murder,” and so on. It was kind of weird looking at all of this stuff but at the same time it was really interesting.
As you walk further in to the museum, you will find the World’s largest collection of restraints that were donated by a local anonymous person. Another case shows a display of custom made truncheons, which are the sticks that police officers carry around. There are displays of uniforms used in the old days to current ones used now.
The collection of firearms law enforcement used dates all the way back to the 19th century with a variety of guns. There are also different radios and equipment that were used, a variety of medals and badges and even a 1965 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Police Motorcycle.
Also in the museum you will find a dog named Handsome. Handsome is the stuffed hero police dog that is displayed in a glass case near the front door. The position that he is stuffed in though makes him look so sad though. He is a star exhibit at the museum and dates back to the late 1800s. The board in front of him explained that many burglars met their demise through the actions of Handsome.
The Wall of Honor was a very nice tribute to all those that have died on the line of duty and made the ultimate sacrifice to their country. Looking at all of the names, some stories and lots of pictures will make a tear come to your eye. One story was about Officer Charles Peterson in May of 1908 who responded to a fire. He tried to help with the fire and was unaware the man who started the fire was still on the scene with a gun; Peterson was shot at close range killing him instantly.
It really makes you think. Most of us say that we don’t like cops, because they give us tickets when we think we didn’t deserve them and they target people for stupid things like not wearing a seatbelt or not completely stopping at a stop sign and so on. But these men and women are here for our protection and are putting their lives in danger at times all for us.
Overall I thought it was interesting to see what it was like being an officer 100 years ago. The stories of the officers that died on duty were our everyday simple calls these days like domestic violence and fires. In those days though it seemed like any call was a dangerous call for the police and now we take more precaution going on these calls then they did back then.. But all in all I am glad times have changed with law enforcement, even though I have had a few speeding tickets in my life, I still respect all those that are in law enforcement. I recommend this museum for people of all ages. When we went there was a class of 3rd graders touring the place and their eyes were lit up with excitement being in here. So if you are in the area of Cincinnati, I recommend that you check this place out.
