“Take a Look at Yourself”: Digital Displays at Police Museums as Camouflage

Abstract

Museums are sites where members of the public learn about history and dominant social institutions. One little examined cultural and
heritage site in Canada is the police museum. These sites are full of relics from the early 20th century that tend to depict a limited version of public police in Canada by focusing primarily on the establishment of police services. One emerging trend we have discovered in our fieldwork is that some Canadian police museums are moving toward digital displays. According to interviews with those working in these heritage spaces, their digitization initiatives are an effort to draw from best practices in the field of museum design and curation. It is also an attempt to connect with more diverse and younger audiences whom the police are supposed to serve. Drawing from critical media and information studies we liken these new digital displays at police museums in Canada to a kind of camouflage that (1) deters critiques, (2) distracts from major controversies that are unfolding concerning police, as well as (3) boosts the perception of police legitimacy and transparency. In our discussion, we draw attention to critical museum and curation practices that could be used to disrupt the current maintenance and promotion of the policing status quo that occurs within these cultural sites.