An early morning email brought the possibility of an entirely new line of book-talk options for Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County. Maybe. It was from the publisher’s marketing specialist and this is what it said: The International Police Museum would love to have you in for a signing…
I had never heard of that museum, though it turns out that it is only a few hours (1 hr. 50 min. says my computer) from Oysterville – in Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. The museum opened just last January. Their website says: We are a fledgling museum just getting our feet wet (we are, after all, situated near a beautiful Oregon beach), and trying to resist the temptation to accomplish everything at once. Please come back often and watch us grow. And if you are traveling down the coast, be sure to stop in.
Their stated purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret police culture, history and heritage of the Rockaway Beach and Oregon police departments, as well as national and international police departments. We hope to foster appreciation, understanding, and respect of police through education and demystification of law enforcement by way of presentations and display of loaned and owned uniforms, equipment, and accouterments. And from what I saw on their website, they are off to a great beginning!
It turns out that there are dozens of police and law & order museums in the United States. Washington has two – one in Seattle and another in Spokane and, in addition to the Rockaway Beach site, Oregon has such a museum in Portland. Once again, a whole new world opens up!
Stay tuned for the date of my book talk. Maybe you can come in combination with a visit to the Oregon Coast. A fine plan, indeed!