Telling it Like it Is: The Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre

Janet Pieschel begins this chapter on the Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre (CPSIC) by describing the need for museums and other cultural institutions to stay relevant to their community by focusing on the issues that concern their visitors. She cites Chris Pinney, who states that one day "all financial institutions and most corporations will, like their European counterparts, eventually have to report their social and environmental impacts along with their economic results (175-76). To me, this statement implies that someday the government will recognize that cultural institutions, like museums, contribute just as much socially to society as corporations contribute financially, and that the need for environmentally-friendly buildings and programs is crucial.

After establishing context, Pieschel then describes the CPSIC. Located inside the Calgary Police Service (CPS) administration building, the CPSIC is a six-thousand-square-foot exhibit and administrative space. CPS management wanted a museum that went beyond uniforms and weapons, and instead wanted to focus on the social factors of crime and change visitor's perspectives on crime. Part of the CPSIC mission is "to instil a respect for police and authority", and this is an especially important for the target audience of school-age children (177).

Pieschel then reviews three of the museum's exhibits. Covering topics such as substance abuse, juvenile prostitution, and domestic abuse and family violence is challenging, and Pieschel acknowledges this while offering the museum's strategy to minimize negative effects for visitors who may have experience with these subjects. One of the most interesting exbits, Dead End Streets, depicted a crack house that museum personnel had seen when they accompanied Calagry police on a tour of such places in the city. The detailed description on page 179 conveys the destructive power of drug use. I can imagine this scene having a profound impact on those who see it, and wonder if such exhibits were created elsewhere, if they might have an effect on high-risk youth.

While I'm sure all museums have numerous challenges to overcome, Pieschel only describes two of the most significant. These are fundraising and the role of docents. Pieschel found that until the museum articulated its social role in the community, it could not gain corporate support. She also found a creative solution the high docent turnover at the museum. She introduced a life-size "robocop" that delivers a consistent message and can deal with the sensitive issues the museum portrays. I'm not sure how well received this "robocop" will convey the message of the museum, but I am sure it will be a memorable addition.

I studied criminology as a undergrad, and have always been fascinated by the motivation and subsequent effects of crime. The CPSIC, in focusing on these topics, can educate kids in a very real way. I can only hope that a museum such as this one will someday open in the United States and continue to educate everyone.