National Law Enforcement Museum

The National Law Enforcement Museum covers the history and structure of American law enforcement with exhibits, historical and contemporary artifacts.

The Museum is an underground facility located adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC’s Judiciary Square.

The Museum’s exhibitions include permanent galleries and one changing exhibition gallery.

The Museum tells the story of law enforcement in the United States. Tales of the fallen are featured in the Museum’s “Hall of Remembrance.”

The Memorial and Museum are both projects of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund which collects and analyzes information about officer fatalities and publishes research on fatality trends.

As officer fatalities on roads have increased in recent years, the “Drive Safely” campaign was launched to decrease law enforcement fatalities on the road.

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial showing the lioness watching her cubs

Highlights of the National Law Enforcement Museum

Artifacts of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
DC Sniper Task Force evidence from the investigation and trial of the Beltway sniper attacks of 2002
Artifacts from the prohibition-era federal agent Eliot Ness and his team of “Untouchables”
9-1-1 Emergency Ops Dispatch Exhibit
An overview of Law Enforcement Agencies
Forensics and Evidence Gathering Exhibits
Handcuffs used by the police to arrest the shooter of US Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968
Badge, gun and a coin purse belonging to American Old West lawman Pat Garrett who killed the outlaw Billie the Kid in 1881
Badge and Deputy US Marshal commission from the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed fugitive couple Bonnie and Clyde in 1934
Bulletproof vest from 1930 that was used by gangster Al Capone
An Indiana State Police car
A Decision-making Training Simulator
The U.S. Park Police helicopter that responded to the Air Florida Flight 90 crash into the Potomac River