The Police Exhibition of 1946
In 1946, Brighton held a Police Exhibition at the Corn Exchange in Church Street. The Corn Exchange is part of the Municipal Museum and Fine Art Galleries, including the Royal Pavilion. This exhibition was held to celebrate the Chief Constables Association's 50th anniversary. (English and Welsh cities and boroughs.) The Association of Municipal Corporations also hosted the 21st Anniversary of the Conference of Chairmen of Watch Committees.
The Home Secretary officially opened the exhibition on Tuesday, June 4th, 1946, at 2.45 p.m. It was open to the public on weekdays with free admission from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Saturday, June 22nd.
The exhibition's main goal was to increase public awareness of the work and challenges police face, it also shows how far specific fields of police work, such as forensic science, have developed over the years. They also hoped to regain interest in ideas for a central Police Museum, which was interrupted by World War ll. As part of a central technical organisation, this museum would hold exhibits and specimens as well as share relevant information and research work, including the history of police.
The exhibition provides a valuable and instructive record of the history, purposes, and police work in England and Wales. These exhibits have been drawn from every type of police force, large and small. As a result, the displays reflect the long history of the police force in this country, as well as the many stages that they have gone through. In addition, it shows the wide variety of police activities and the general interests of the different forces.
'The exhibition illustrates the need for a police museum, with a central and permanent home, where a wide range of police articles of historical and technical interest could be housed and made available for reference and study, where a register could be kept as a key to the nature and whereabouts of similar exhibits are elsewhere.'
Home Secretary Chuter Ede's Introduction to the brochure of the National Police Exhibition 1946
'Exhibits could be made available, temporarily or permanently, at Training Schools and other police establishments, or for local and temporary Exhibitions open to the public, as occasion may require.'
Home Secretary Chuter Ede's Introduction to the brochure of the National Police Exhibition 1946
Due to limited space, it wasn't easy to present all the items received. However, a detailed record had been produced so that the location and ownership of all exhibits were known.
The link below shows a short silent video created in 1946 at the Brighton Police Museum posted on the British Pathé YouTube channel. It shows the museum's collection of police artefacts, old fashioned stocks with a man demonstrating someone being imprisoned in them, various implements used by police in the past, truncheons, whistles, badges, and handcuffs. Mayor of Brighton and another VIP viewing the police relics as they walk around also includes mannequins dressed in police uniform from the John Peel era.
My grateful thanks to Mr. Andrew Bennett for his hard work in finding this information. He is not only a good friend but a brilliant researcher at the ‘Keep’ at Moulescoombe, Brighton.
