Who We Are

Inspired by a visit to Scotland Yard’s Black Museum in London, England, Cleveland Police Detective Robert Bolton convinced Chief William Hanton that Cleveland should have its own police museum.  Subsequently, Detective Bolton, Chief Hanton, Deputy Chief Lloyd Patterson, and Deputy Chief Richard Kazmir incorporated The Cleveland Police Historical Society in May 1983 as a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization.  The first officers of the society included Detective Bolton as President, along with Lieutenant Aloysuis J. Jezior, and Directors Lieutenant Howard Rudolph and Traffic Commissioner Thomas Baginski.

The Cleveland Police Museum, which opened in June of that year with Florence E. Schwein as its director, originally consisted of 1200 sq. ft. of space on the first floor of Police Headquarters in the Justice Center.  The museum featured exhibits that documented the history of the Cleveland Division of Police from its inception in 1866.  In the first seven months 3,000 visitors toured the museum.  By the end of 1984, the museum’s guest book recorded not only local visitors but many from across the united States (including Alaska and Hawaii), and Canada; but Mexico, England, Bolivia, Argentina, Japan, Ireland, France, Australia, Palestine, Brazil, The Netherlands, Italy, and Austria, as well.

Over the years, the CPHS has welcomed visitors of all ages, gender, and heritage.  Scholars and researchers, ranging from local and out-of-state schoolchildren to PhDs, requesting information from the CPHS form an equally diverse group.  The CPHS established a Website and e-mail service in 1999, which has resulted in contacts from local areas as well as many from the United States including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, Massachusetts, California, Kentucky, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, Arkansas, and Louisiana.  In addition, The CPHS has responded to electronic inquires from people in Canada, Serbia, England, Germany, Argentina, The Netherlands, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Cleveland’s police museum continues to be one of the few law enforcement museums open to the public in the United States, and has influenced police departments in other communities to create collections that relate to their own histories.  The CPHS is unusual among similar organizations in that it works in cooperation with, but does not come under the control of the Cleveland Division of Police.  Financial support comes from membership dues, donations, and grants from various government agencies and private organizations.  The CPHS receives no tax funds from the City of Cleveland, State of Ohio, or the Federal Government.