The Police Service of Northern Ireland has submitted an Expression of Intent to register a new charitable company, named Museum of Policing Northern Ireland, with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Upon registration as a charity the company will operate the new Museum of Policing for Northern Ireland, proposed to be built within the grounds of the existing police headquarters located at Knock Road, Belfast.
The Board of Trustees for the new charitable company will comprise of representatives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation and the Police Historical Society (N.I.), alongside a number of independent members yet to be appointed.
£5.5m was set aside by government to fund the building project. A further £385,000 has been secured from the Part-Time RUC Reserve pension settlement. It is anticipated that the new Museum of Policing facility will be self-sufficient with support from external funding sources.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: “I am delighted that we will be able to progress the building of a new museum here at police headquarters. The museum will offer cross curricula and whole-life learning opportunities for schools, students, adults and community groups through exhibitions, educational programmes and engagement activities. This will be a facility that the whole community can enjoy as we highlight the ongoing role of policing in conflict resolution, reconciliation and keeping people safe.”
The RUCGC Foundation’s Stephen White said: “The Foundation is proud to support this project to make the important role of policing more accessible and visible to our communities. It will exhibit the service and bravery of police officers across the decades and ensure that their stories are preserved for future generations.”
Also commenting, George Clarke, of the Police Historical Society (N.I.) said: “The Police Historical Society is delighted with plans for a new and fitting museum. The new facilities will enable us to present and preserve the many artefacts we hold relating to policing in Ireland. Our collection contains approximately 12,000 artefacts of a diverse nature including uniforms, medals and other items telling the story of policing from 1814 to the present day; our oldest exhibit is a Bible from 1608 which belonged to Sir Robert Peel. We look forward to these being accessible to the wider public to illustrate the history of policing over more than 200 years.”
It is hoped that the new Museum will be completed and open to the public by autumn 2028.