The museum, which has opened its doors duing the Heritage Weekend last summer, also needs people to help with its exhibition items digitisation project at Exeter and Okehampton.
Anyone with a detective’s nose for history and who loves true crime would be a good candidate to learn about why a swimming bear was at Dartmoor Prison, how swan beaks helped solve the Devon murder of a shoe fortune heiress and why a Rolex watch jailed an identity theft killer near Teignmouth.
Other interesting facts volunteers will discover include the unusual way women were moved by the region’s police in the early 1900s, how a child’s disappearance led to a failed wish for mounted police across two counties, if a pilot survived wedging his plane between two homes in Cornwall, and when Isles of Scilly residents stockpiled shoes and smoked sea-soaked tobacco.
Keith Tester, a volunteer with the museum since March, has recorded and photographed high-profile crime evidence, vintage uniform, memorabilia, retro equipment, and historical documents as part of the ongoing digitisation project:
“It is fascinating to see what we have in our vast collections and archive, and to tap into the knowledge of the people I work with. I feel privileged to be discovering the history of policing, the stories behind the objects we have, and my part in helping to preserve it.”
He added: “I’ve been able to use my creative photography skills to help the museum show the public what it looks after.”
He also used his DIY skills to help set up in the museum’s small premises in Bedford Square in Tavistock, painting and helping to set up displays, including suspending an old police bike from the ceiling: “I really enjoy being part of a great team of volunteers and staff who all believe in what they are doing.”
The museum holds over 10,000 items.