By Ron Ford,
The Spokane Law Enforcement Museum preserves the heritage of those who devoted their careers – and, in some cases, their lives – to keeping Spokane safe and orderly.
“We have the best law enforcement museum, as told to us from our visitors from Britain, Nova Scotia, locally and nationwide,” Susan Walker, the museum’s secretary and treasurer, said. “We are still the best kept secret in Spokane, and are very proud of what we have all accomplished.”
Former Spokane detective Glen L. Whiteley, 86, has been collecting Spokane law enforcement memorabilia since 1990. He opened the museum in April 2010 to share and preserve it all.
“It started in court,” Whiteley said. “I asked a judge, what happens to the guns and knives and stuff used by prisoner? He said, ‘we destroy them.’ ‘That’s history,’ I said. ‘They shouldn’t be destroyed.’ So I started collecting, and that just started my collection.”
Whiteley is more than just a collector. The former Spokane police detective said he has been a police sketch artist, a forensic detective, and has worked for the FBI. He was also a college art teacher and the head photographer for the city at the 1974 Spokane Expo.
Larry Lyle, another retired Spokane police officer, is the museum’s voluntary escort. He enjoyed police work, at least partially, because of the positive influence it can have on others in the community.
“With just a little bit of time and consideration, as an officer you can influence somebody’s life,” Lyle said.
According to Whiteley, the uniformed Spokane police force has its origins in 1887, when William Horatio Lewis, a police officer in Helena, Montana, came to town on business, wearing his uniform. There were only three peace officers working for the city at the time, and they were indisposed, transporting a prisoner to Walla Walla.
Lewis was asked if he would walk the streets of town in his uniform while they were away. The sight of the uniformed man became so popular with the locals that he was hired by the city. Uniforms were designed in a similar style as Lewis’s for the other officers to wear. Lewis later became Spokane’s first detective and its first Police Inspector.
Since then the Spokane Police Department has grown into a cutting-edge law enforcement agency with nearly 300 officers, according to the Spokane Police Department’s website.
Inside the museum you will find a vast variety of items and photographs. There is a rifle barrel turned into a flute, found by Lewis at the Little Bighorn battle site. There any many kinds of handcuff used through the ages.
A uniform room displays the various styles worn by officers over the years. There are confiscated shivs and makeshift weapons, and that is just the tip of the historical iceberg.
But as compelling as all these physical reminders of another time may be, many will find the museum’s real gold in its colorful curator and escort.
Whiteley and Lyle are the embodiment of the museum’s spirit – a devotion to law enforcement that spans multiple decades, double centuries and two millennia.
They are happy and eager to share their memories of lifetime in law enforcement with all who may wish to drop by.
SIDEBAR:
Spokane Law Enforcement Museum
1201 W. First Ave.
509-625-3352
Open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
$5 Donation