National Museum of Crime and Punishment
Would you like to be a detective who tracks and chases alleged criminals or an
investigator who seeks forensic clues and analyzes them in a science lab? The National Crime
Museum in Washington, D.C., provides an opportunity to play both roles in an interactive
environment for all age groups. One of the newest museums built in Washington, D.C., the
National Crime and Punishment Museum was created to explore the Nation’s crime history, the
consequences of committing a crime and to honor all law enforcement personnel.
Built in 2008, the National Museum of Crime and Punishment was the creation
Of lawyer/businessman John Morgan and America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh. After
Morgan toured Alcatraz Island, a former federal prison in San Francisco, he felt that a museum
dedicated to the history of crime, punishment and crime scene investigation was an American
need (Museum Galleries). The National Museum of Crime and Punishment Museum is privately
owned and is a for-profit organization unlike other Washington, D.C. museums. Costing twenty-
one million dollars to build, the museum is located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood on the east
end of downtown Washington, D.C. (Cummings).
The main floor of the museum contains a staged crime scene, where visitors are led
through the process of solving the crime using forensic science techniques, ballistics, blood
analysis, finger and foot printing, and dental and facial reconstruction (Cummings).
Within the National Museum of Crime and Punishment are five museum galleries: A
Notorious History of American Crime; Punishment: The Consequences of Crime; Crime
Fighting; Crime Scene Investigation; and the most recent addition, Counterfeit Crimes: Are You
Part of the Black Market?
The gallery of the Notorious History of Crime takes the visitor from the beginning of
crimes and criminals – medieval knights, pirates and the Old West - to the lawbreakers of today,
the white collar “silent criminal” (Museum Galleries). Included in the History of American
Crime are a shooting gallery, a safe ready to be “cracked”, and a computer hacking station. The
gallery also includes the death car of Depression-Era criminals Bonnie and Clyde, filled
with a barrage of bullet holes (Notorious).
The museum gallery entitled Punishment: The Consequence of Crime shows visitors
that crime doesn’t pay with its model police station. The model includes a booking room, where
mug shots and fingerprints are taken and a full-scale jail cell equivalent to that of famous
criminal Al Capone. A police lineup, where you cannot see the victim, and a lie detector test are
interactive activities contained within the Punishment gallery.
In the Crime Fighting Gallery, visitors witness the lives of people who risk their own
lives daily to ensure our safety. The FBI’s current 10 Most Wanted List is displayed in this area.
Some of the sites to see in the gallery are uniforms, famous firearms, restraining equipment used
by law enforcement, bomb squad exhibits and night vision technology (Crime Fighting) . A
high-speed police chase simulator and a simulated FBI shooting range are two activities in which
visitors can participate in the Crime Fighting Gallery.
The Crime Scene Investigation Gallery simulates a day in the life of a crime scene
investigator with its Forensic Science Workshops. An actual crime scene investigator leads
visitors through the crime scene which is designed for investigation; finding clues and
determining the where, when, why, and by whom of the crime. Visitors use forensic science
technology such as ballistics, blood analysis, fingerprinting, and dental and facial reconstruction
in the Crime Scene labs. Workshops are scheduled on weekends, and preregistration is required.
A morgue is also part of the Crime Scene Investigation Gallery, as well as information involving
counterfeiting, document forgery and art forgery (Crime Scene Investigation).
The newest exhibit added to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment is the
Counterfeit Crimes Gallery. Commonly known as the black market, the illegal traffic and sale of
counterfeit goods supports our country’s drug trade, human trafficking and child labor, as well as
terrorist activities (Counterfeit Crimes). Visitors learn how the International Anti-Counterfeiting
Association, the IACC, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are fighting the black
market.
The studio for the televised show America’s Most Wanted is housed in the Crime and
Punishment Museum. Running from 1988 to 2013, America’s Most Wanted led to the
apprehension of more than 1,000 fugitives, with sixteen captures from the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted
Fugitives (Cummings).
The National Museum of Crime and Punishment has seven hundred artifacts contained in
the 28,000 square foot structure. Some of the most interesting artifacts include a guillotine;
torture devices from the Middle Ages; a lethal injection machine from the state prison
in Smyrna, Delaware; an electric chair from the Tennessee State Prison, which was used for 125
executions; self-created devices for injury and escape; a 1963 Harley Davidson police
motorcycle; and counterfeit Coach purses, Rolex watches and Ugg boots (Cummings).
Whether you are interested in becoming a crime scene investigator, a detective or are
simply a curious passerby, the National Museum of Crime and Punishment has something to
offer to all age groups. The history of crime, its consequences and the crime scene investigation
used to solve the offenses are presented to visitors through interactive activities and exhibits
dating from the Middle Ages to today’s illegal acts.