Off the 'Cuff

Uncovering interesting things in the collection is probably the most rewarding part of a curatorial staff member’s job.  In a way it is a privilege to find a nearly forgotten artifact and breathe new life into it by researching its past and telling others its stories. The three counterfeit coins in our archives are a [...]

Looking for something to do with your friends before the end of the summer? There’s no better place to cool down than in an old morgue. In just a last few weeks, the place has been burning up with a Yelp Party, a massive Groupon offer and busy programs for both kids and adults. And [...]

“Only a fool like myself would have done it” -Robert McBeath, when asked why he stormed a German machinegun nest Last week the museum had the pleasure of hosting a small group of high school students from a tiny village in Scotland, and I was lucky enough to spend some time with them. Vancouver’s Police [...]

This summer, our summer students are regularly updating this blog with their experiences working at the Police Museum. Please be sure to check out Jessica’s personal (non museum-affiliated) blog called “Madness and Beauty“. Since becoming a tour guide for the Sins of the City Walking Tour, I have developed a passion for Vancouver’s heritage that [...]

A few weeks ago, we went out with a GPS device (Global Positioning System) and a few magnetic key boxes, hiding them around the city. This marked the start of our participation in a little sport/hobby called geocaching. What is geocaching? According to Wikipedia: Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a [...]

So stoked! This morning, we received an email from a big movie studio, asking if we’d be interested in seeing a sneak preview of an upcoming major summer film. (Update: the movie you might get to see is “Public Emenies” starring Johnny Depp!) As you might imagine, this caught us a little off-guard, since we’ve [...]

Last night, we hosted a special “Tweetup” for our many friends on Twitter and (we hope) a great time was had by all! (We know we had a blast!) The people who came out include: @mojaveband, @gusf, @russbystarlite, @abc4, @gusgreeper, @staciebee, @rott1058, @bluey037, @emmerogers, @trishussey, @raincoaster, @hummingbird604, @dale42, @atomicfez, @jonjennings, @tofufighting, @anthonyfloyd, @owlex, @jpadamson, @johnbiehler, [...]

Last year, we did an interview for Global-TV about Sins of the City, showing the cameraman a few of the highlights of the naughty little tour. Naturally, the stories of Detective’s Sinclair and Ricci came up and we showed them a picture of the two of them, in an opium den under Chinatown. The next [...]

Movie stars! High society! Theft! San Quentin penitentiary! Europe! The USA! The Orient! Oh, and Vancouver… This case had it all. And the Vancouver Police Department helped to crack it. The 1940 Vancouver City Police Department Annual Report outlined a case with all the drama and sexiness of a Hollywood movie pitch. First, the set-up: [...]