Monday, June 07, 2004
A museum of mayhem
A museum dedicated to the Los Angeles Police Department opened last year, and this article in the NY Times tells about several of its exhibits:
It sounds like a great museum, and one I'd like to visit. They also have a memorial to the 200 LAPD officers who have died in the line of duty, including information on the lives of each. I like that idea - it's important for people to realize the humanity of the men and women who wear police uniforms.
It's nice that they also have a sense of humor:
Pretty funny.
The sight of two life-sized mannequins toting machine guns and wearing bloodstained body armor has brought gasps from kids and tears from tough cops.
The figures at the Los Angeles Police Department Museum depict the two heavily armed bank robbers who fired thousands of shots before being killed by officers during a North Hollywood shootout in 1997...
In one corner is an ax used by Fred Stroble to kill 6-year-old Linda Joyce Glucoft in 1949 -- a case that made headlines in its day. Stroble was later convicted and executed.
In another spot is the original script of the show ``Dragnet'' and the badge of fictional LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday, played by actor-director Jack Webb. The show ran from 1951 to 1959 and then was reincarnated in 1967-1970...
The museum's most ambitious exhibit is the North Hollywood shooting. With red police lights spinning overhead, visitors can compare the large arsenal of weapons used by the gunmen to the small cache of service revolvers carried by police officers.
It sounds like a great museum, and one I'd like to visit. They also have a memorial to the 200 LAPD officers who have died in the line of duty, including information on the lives of each. I like that idea - it's important for people to realize the humanity of the men and women who wear police uniforms.
It's nice that they also have a sense of humor:
Future exhibits will include...a Krispy Kreme kiosk and gift store to play off the stereotype of doughnut-loving cops.
Pretty funny.
