The Queensland Police Museum (QPM) today commemorated 130 years of preserving law enforcement history, educating, and honouring the dedication of those across the state who serve the community.
The QPM was established on November 27, 1893, with a memorandum sent by the Police Commissioner to all officers in charge of police stations, asking them to send in any items they might find interesting.
The Museum, infamous at the time for its grisly collection, was not open to the public and was initially used to educate police officers and recruits.
In 1979, the QPM was first opened to the public and now includes 25 displays, including unsolved cold cases, an interactive crime scene, women in the police and other exhibits detailing the history of policing across the past 159 years.
The Museum also hosts public programs, including educational lectures and monthly presentations featuring guest speakers from historical and crime-solving fields.
Commissioner Katarina Carroll paid tribute to the educational asset the Museum has become for both members of the public and officers and how much it shows just how much “policing” has changed over the decades.
“The Queensland Police Museum has become a destination for education, with schools and community groups visiting daily to learn about historic crime-solving methods and hear humbling stories of police bravery.”
The birthday celebrations also included unveiling a plaque, honouring the Museum’s first permanent curator, Ms. Gaye Flynn, and her enormous contribution to the advancement of the QPM.
As part of the commemoration, retired detective sergeant first class Geradus Stevens presented the current curator, Lisa Jones, with a commendation he received in 1983 for disarming an armed hostage taker in Toowoomba.
The commendation will now be preserved and displayed in the Museum for future Queenslanders to reflect on.
Lisa said that after 26 years, being curator is still her dream job and that she remembered, before her interview for the position all those years ago, looking at the front door and thinking, “This is going to be my museum.”
130 years later, the QBM continues to educate, collect, document, preserve, and exhibit the history of policing in Queensland.
Happy Birthday!
