The Glendale Police Museum

Today's field trip was to the Glendale Police Museum.  It is housed in the Glendale Public Safety Building.  We were met by Dan, the delightful curator of the museum.  He is a 25-year veteran of the Glendale Police Force, having served undercover, on patrol and in the DARE program during his working years.  He has amassed an interesting array of Glendale police memorabilia and displayed it well.

Dan led our small group from display to display, and shared his memories and what he just happened to know about each cluster of items.  We began with the wall of chiefs.  After that, there were displays covering SWAT, bomb disposal units, K-9 units, women in the department, the motorcycle, uniforms, shields and badges, the Memory Wall (in 100 years, only two officers have been killed in the line of duty), police lights, technology, and a few others.  Dan regaled me and my children (currently 12 and 9) with his tales and information.  My kids peppered him with questions.

We ended up spending 90 minutes there - 30 beyond what we were scheduled for, because we were so interested in what we were learning about!  This is a free museum display.  Docent-led "tours" (like the one we had) need to be arranged ahead of time, but you can just go in and browse on your own.