North from Coolangatta to Cape York and west to Camooweal, the Queensland Police Museum collects, researches and promotes the history of police in the state of Queensland. Displayed year-round in our exhibition space (ground level, Police HQ, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane) a snippet of this history will again be displayed at the Royal Queensland Exhibition (the Ekka) from August 10th 2018.
Last year’s display focused on evolving technologies used by police; the C.M.I. Speedgun with radar technology, seen in the cabinet on show during the 2017 Ekka, was introduced in 1976 as part of a police campaign against speeding on Queensland roads.
QPM Ekka Display, 2017. Image by the Queensland Police Museum.
The Truth reported the usefulness of a Police Museum in 1936. It described how “a complete record of exhibits was kept from every cause celebre or big case from 1845 to 1902!”
An investment in new display cases enabled more objects to be securely shown at the Ekka in 1949.
The 1979 display focused on police stations; a tent was used for shelter in the one-horse town of Duchess, with handcuffs secured to a nearby tree for prisoners. The prefabricated portable used as early as 1913 was also reconstructed for display using beam frames and corrugated iron sheets. The original construction was designed and built in Brisbane then delivered and erected onsite. The Ekka display included such details as a portable stretcher for the stationed officer, and a straightjacket for violent prisoners.
 A mock up of Duchess Police Station, 1979. |
 Prefabricated portable example, 1979. |
In 2014 the museum’s Ekka display provided a timeline from commencement of a Queensland Police Force in 1864 to the present-day Service 150 years later. Uniforms, accoutrements and confiscated evidence was also on display along with the newly released Book of Names listing 29,534 individual police officers in service to the community of Queensland at some time between the inauguration and sesquicentennial.
Consider a visit to the Technology and Fashion Precinct (Level 1) of the Agricultural Hall to view our 2018 display along with many other initiatives by the Queensland Police Service to protect and support your community.
Image No. PM4035a of the Queensland Police Museum’s 2014 Ekka display.
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This article was written by Museum Assistant Georgia Grier from the best resources available within the Queensland Police Museum. The Police Museum is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb – Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT- Qld Police Museum at the Ekka” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode