Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre facts for kids
The Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre is a special place that keeps and looks after important old papers, books, objects, and uniforms. These items all tell the story of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which is the police force for London. The Heritage Centre and the Crime Museum are both managed by the MPS's Heritage Service. Over time, this centre has been known by different names, such as the Police Museum or the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection.
Contents
Exploring the Police Heritage Centre
The Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre is dedicated to showing the long and interesting history of London's police force. It helps people understand how policing has changed over the years.
What the Centre Collects
The centre collects many different types of items. These include old documents, books, and objects that police officers once used. They also have uniforms from different time periods. All these items help to show what life was like for police officers in the past.
Where Police Records Are Kept
Most official records made by the Metropolitan Police up to 2012 are kept at The National Archives. This is a big place where important government documents are stored. The police records are there because the Metropolitan Police used to be part of the Home Office, which is a government department, until 2012. A law called the Public Records Act 1958 made sure these records were kept safe.
History of the Centre's Locations
The idea for collecting police items started in 1949. Chief Superintendent Arthur Rowlerson asked people to donate objects to create a collection.
Early Homes of the Collection
The first home for this collection was at Bow Street Police Station. After that, the collection moved to several other places over the years.
Moving to New Spaces
In June 2009, the collection found a new home. It moved into a new gallery space and a research room. These were located in an extra building next to the Empress State Building. This building was an office for the Metropolitan Police in west London.
Future Plans for the Centre
The gallery space at the Empress State Building closed in early 2020. This happened because the Empress State Building was going to be used for something different, like a place for fighting terrorism. The research room is planned to open again in 2021. It will be in another Metropolitan Police building near Woolwich Dockyard.
