Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Police Museum – Journey Through Police History

Introduction

This museum traces the history and evolution of the police force in India as a law enforcing agency. It is dedicated to the fond memories of the man who was responsible for the integration of the princely states of pre-independent India into an Indian Union. Yes, you have guessed it right. The museum is in the name of the great barrister and statesman Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Situated just opposite to Kollam Railway Station, the police museum showcases the pictorial representation of the force in different points of time. A visit to the museum premises helps the visitors to travel back in time to the important milestones in the growth of the police force in our country. This museum is maintained by the Kerala Police to educate people about its evolution and work.

Kollam Police Museum

This police museum was dedicated to the nation in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This was done to remember the contribution of this great statesman who stitched together Indian Union with iron hands. It was inaugurated in the year 2000. It is located in Kollam city, just opposite to the Kollam Railway Station. The museum has been organized into a number of sections to enable the visitors to get the gist of the exhibits.  The visiting hours of this police museum is between 9:00 AM in the morning and 6:00 PM in the evening on all days of the week throughout the year.

•  Arms and Ammunition: This section of the museum has on display the arms and ammunition that were used in the 18^th and 19^th centuries AD. They include bullets, machines, guns, and other types of weapons used by the police in above mentioned periods of time.
  
  
  
•  Police at Work: There is another section that provides the detailed description of various aspects of work done by the police forces today. This information is given in the form of chart and flow diagrams. These charts tell about the DNA testing, and bone and fingerprint identification procedures undertaken by the force.
  
  
  
•  Awards and Medallion: Yet another section of the museum is dedicated to people who got the medallions and awards in different aspects of law keeping. The list also has people who got the awards posthumously.
• Police Dogs: This section has wonderful snaps of police dogs in different postures when they are at work. Some of the snaps provide the funny side of these dogs when they are idle.
• Martyr’s Gallery: This section in the museum shows the members of police forces who did the supreme sacrifice for the country while in duty. The captions of these martyr portraits depict the place and date of their death. The captions on these portraits also talk about the operations in which they embraced the death with dignity and valour.

Statue of Vallabhbhai Patel

On the premises, the visitors can see full-mast statue of Vallabhbhai Patel made in concrete. This 1.1-ton statue was sculptured by a serving police officer. It was dedicated to the nation in the month of January in 2005. The name of the police sculptor is Santhosh. He is currently severing in the police force as the Police Constable. This beautiful piece of work shows that police forces have people with a creative bend of mind. This statue is located on the front side of the museum.