Police Museum News

Welcome to the Police Museum during the winter holiday

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 13:41:00 GMT

The Police Museum in Hervanta, Tampere, is open to all, free of charge. We present the history and activities of the Finnish police from the Middle Ages to the present day.

“At the Police Museum, you can, for example, sit in a police van, take a picture of yourself in the suspect registration chair and watch old films about the police. In the special children’s section, young museum visitors can wear police overalls,” says Curator Maritta Jokiniemi.

The texts of all Police Museum exhibitions are available in Finnish, Swedish and English.

“During the winter holiday week in the Tampere region, from Tuesday to Saturday 24–28 February, we will organize free guided tours in Finnish. In addition, on Wednesday, 25 February and Thursday, 26 February, you can meet the gaming police at the Police Museum and play Minecraft with them.”

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The Police Museum welcomed 41,000 visitors in 2025

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 09:53:00 GMT

In 2025, the Police Museum welcomed around 41,000 visitors, slightly fewer than in previous years. A record 42,600 people visited in 2024 and around 42,000 in 2023.

In 2025, the Police Museum showed the special exhibition on Art Crime Cases and the online exhibition, "In Memoriam – Police killed in the line of duty".

“The Art Crime Cases exhibition, shown in our new gallery facility, describes Finnish art crime through 14 criminal cases. The In Memoriam online exhibition examines the history of police fatalities,” says Lauri Haavisto, the Intendant and Director of the Museum.

Among the events held at the museum, Police Day once again attracted the largest audience. The event was an opportunity for the public to admire police horses, watch a police dog show, and learn about various police vehicles.

“We also offered museum visitors a number of free guided tours, an event titled “From art fraud to cybercrime", and a series of lectures titled “Police Officers of the Year". Recording of the lectures at the events are available on the Police Museum’s YouTube channel (in Finnish)," says Lauri Haavisto.

In 2025, around 3,200 people visited the Crime Museum, which is part of the Police Museum. The Crime Museum is at the National Bureau of Investigation in Vantaa and is only open to visitor groups consisting of police personnel and stakeholders of the police.

New in 2026: a travelling exhibition on the World of Forgeries

What is being forged and who is doing the forging? How do people get caught using forgeries? The Police Museum’s new travelling exhibition introduces the world of forgeries.

“We have produced a travelling exhibition that for example museums, libraries and schools can borrow and display on their premises. The exhibition consists of eight roll-up posters and is available in Finnish, Swedish and English.”

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Police Museum closed for Christmas from 15 December to 19 January

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 08:01:00 GMT

You can take a virtual tour of the Police Museum using your own computer or phone. You can take a peek into the exhibition space and discover interesting objects and videos. There are two virtual presentations: you can visit the permanent exhibition, “The Police is Here!”, and the special exhibition, “The Coloured Truth”’, which has already ended, about art crime in Finland.

Four online exhibitions are now available. The recently launched “In Memoriam” exhibition focuses on police officers killed in the line of duty. The “Crime and Love” exhibition examines how changes in the law concerning sexual minorities have affected police work and the rights of sexual minorities. The “Police of Independent Finland” online exhibition illustrates how the work of the police and their professional skills have evolved since Finland became independent. The online exhibition “From Breeches to Coveralls” presents the history of police uniforms.

You can also visit the Police Museum's YouTube channel for videos about the museum's exhibitions and the history of the police. Some of the YouTube videos have subtitles in English.

We look forward to welcoming you back to the Police Museum after the Christmas break! Admission is free, and the museum has something for the whole family to see and experience.

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164 police fatalities, statistics and moving stories – the online exhibition “In Memoriam” has been launched

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The first three decades of Finland’s independence, from 1918 to 1949, were the most dangerous period for the police. Almost three quarters of all police fatalities occurred then. The underlying factors were instability, an exceptionally large crime wave during the prohibition era, and little or no training for police officers. People had many different types of weapons at home, and handguns were relatively easy to obtain. In addition, bladed weapons could be carried in public on a belt until well into the 1940s.

“For a long time, police officers considered violence against them to be part of their job, and this perception persists to some extent. The job carries risks, and the police do not shy away from them. Although the statistics indicate that the 21st century is the safest period in terms of police fatalities, violent resistance to officers has increased,” says Maritta Jokiniemi, Curator at the Police Museum.

The “In Memoriam” online exhibition includes a database of 164 police fatalities. In this exhibition, “police fatality” refers to the death of a police officer or a person working in the police, whether they were on duty or off duty, and where the fatality is connected to the person's profession. In this case, the death was caused by violence or a life-threatening situation, such as an accident or an extraordinary period, such as war.

“The criteria for what constitutes a police fatality have varied over time. The “In Memoriam” online exhibition includes not only violent deaths, but also road accidents involving police fatalities, accidents during training exercises, and situations where police officers have intervened in crimes while off duty," explains Maritta Jokiniemi.

Statistics and touching reports

The database is based on open, public sources, such as articles from newspapers and police trade journals.

“The data on the oldest police fatalities in Finland is fragmented. Unfortunately, some cases now exist only as memories handed down within families, while others have been lost to the passage of time. This is why the information found by genealogists and historians is so valuable to us researchers.

The “In Memoriam” online exhibition provides, among other things, the following information about police fatalities:

How it happened: 56% of police fatalities were committed with a firearm, 14% with a bladed weapon, 7% occurred in traffic, and 4% were the outcome of assault. 19% of the cases were connected to military operations.
Categories of personnel killed in police fatalities: Of those killed, 85% were uniformed police officers in the field, 10% were detectives or criminal investigators, and 5% were other police administration employees.
Sex: All of those who died were men.
Regions: Statistically, police work has been most dangerous in large cities, but violence has also occurred in rural areas. Isolated incidents, such as the police murders in Pihtipudas in 1969, significantly increase the figures for specific localities.
The most dangerous missions: Apprehending a person or preventing an escape, disturbances in public places, and call-outs to people’s homes.
Violence led to the deaths of 73% of the police officers killed in the line of duty. The proportion of violent deaths was particularly high in the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s.
Traffic incidents in which a police officer has been run over and killed have often been treated by the courts on lesser charges, such as grossly negligent homicide and/or causing a traffic hazard.
In the 21st century, 2 police officers have died in the line of duty as a result of violence, 1 police officer has died in a road accident while off duty, and 1 guard working at a police department has died as a result of an accident.

Alongside the statistics and database, the online exhibition provides for example insights into how the work community has come to terms with police fatalities in different periods and how some cases have led to improvements in occupational safety in the police.

“A police fatality is a huge tragedy for the police community, for those close to the police, and for society as a whole. The topic of this online exhibition is an important and painful reminder that missions have not always ended well. The exhibition includes touching stories and shocking recollections of near misses and injuries. I am sure we all share in the heartfelt hope that this memorial database will not need any new entries in the future.”

The English version of the online exhibition will be released later in December 2025.

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Collection services of the Police Museum on a break from January to August 2026

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 09:00:00 GMT

“Our collection includes approximately 24,000 objects, 142,000 photographs, 2,500 books as well as 4,000 films or multimedia presentations. During the break in the collection services, we will concentrate on organizing the existing collections,” says Lauri Haavisto, Intendant of the museum.

“During the break, it will not be possible to donate objects to us and we do not offer collection services. Please also be prepared for the fact that in January to August 2026, the information and image services of the museum will only operate to a limited extent.”

The Police Museum lends its items to other professionally maintained museums for exhibition purposes. Please make an arrangement on item loans during the break in collection services during November 2025.

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Police Museum sets July visitor record despite pandemic

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 13:19:00 GMT

The number of visitors was good, even though the year was challenging because of the coronavirus epidemic.

“When the Emergency Powers Act took effect, the museum was closed from 17 March through the beginning of June. When the museum opened, we set a record for summer visitors in July, with nearly 6,500 guests. Later in the year new restrictions on the number of visitors were implemented and we have had to close certain parts of the exhibition space. The use of face masks has been mandatory both for personnel and museum guests”, says Manager Tiina Tuulasvaara-Kaleva.

One important goal for 2020 was increasing accessibility so that visitors with special needs could experience more.

“We opened a ‘touching permitted’ wall at the beginning of March. It turns out that with the coronavirus, the time for opening up may not have been the best possible, but the wall also works by just looking at it. We have added texts in Braille to the wall, as the sight-impaired have expressed a desire for objects that they can touch. In addition, a free sound guide serves all our visitors, and during the Christmas break we got access control stickers for it, making it easier for the sight-impaired to move around in the museum”, Tuulasvaara-Kaleva says.

Online content adds to diversity

The versatility of the online content took on an increasingly important role when it was not possible to physically visit museums. The new virtual tour of the Police Museum offers a possibility to get to see the basic exhibition “The Police is here!”. Information has now been added on the interesting details of the exhibition. The round will be enhanced by an audio drama in early 2021.

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New website for the Police Museum in December

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 07:15:00 GMT

Both the content and the visuals of the website have been renovated for better service and accessibility.

The new website of the Police Museum will be published in December 2020.

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Police Museum closed temporarily

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 08:44:00 GMT

While our facilities are closed, you can take a virtual tour of the Police Museum and see our virtual exhibitions. Check out also Antti’s time travel radio play on the YouTube channel of the Police Museum (in Finnish).

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The Police Museum chosen as a finalist for the Museum of the Year 2022 award

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 10:18:00 GMT

Four museums were chosen as the finalists for the Museum of the Year 2022 award. Alongside the Police Museum, the candidates are the Hotel and Restaurant Museum in Helsinki, the Lotta Museum in Tuusula and the Muisti Centre of War and Peace @ Headquarters Museum in Mikkeli.

The award is granted to a museum that in its field has significantly promoted the visibility and impacts of the museum sector in society, and whose activities have introduced new or different perspectives, ideas and visions to the museum sector.

The award jury will visit the finalist museums during the spring. The winner of the Museum of the Year award will be announced in connection with the National Museum Days in May.

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The Police Museum received the Museum of the Year 2022 award

Fri, 20 May 2022 06:32:00 GMT

“In its criteria for the award, the award jury stated that the concept of the Police Museum is an overall success and that the museum operations show consistent quality and a highly professional approach. The award jury emphasized, for example, the museum’s diverse collection activities, special exhibitions supplementing the permanent exhibition and paying attention to children as museum visitors,” says Tiina Tuulasvaara-Kaleva, Chief Intendant of the Police Museum.

The award jury paid also attention to the Police Museum’s interaction with the Police University College and the police in general. The museum participates, for example, in the education of police students and has developed a network of museum contact persons for police departments.

“During the award process, it was delightful to notice that the Finnish police forces have noticed the significance of the Police Museum: the museum does not only record the tradition, but contributes also to the understanding of the history. In this way, we are involved in building the future and safety of our society.”

Four museums were chosen as the finalists for the Museum of the Year 2022 award. Alongside the Police Museum, the candidates were the Hotel and Restaurant Museum in Helsinki, the Lotta Museum in Tuusula and the Muisti Centre of War and Peace & Headquarters Museum in Mikkeli.

The winner of the Museum of the Year award was announced in connection with the National Museum Days in Mariehamn.

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Changes to the parking arrangements at the Police Museum

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

There will be changes to the arrangements at the parking area in front of the Police Museum as of October 1, 2025. The first two rows in the parking area, as seen from the direction of the museum, are reserved for the vehicles of museum visitors. In these parking spaces, you will need a parking permit, which you can collect from the reception point of the museum. Place the parking permit in a visible location on the inside of the windshield of the vehicle so that the parking permit is clearly legible from the outside. The permit is valid for two hours. Indicate the starting time of parking on the inside of the windscreen of the vehicle with a parking disc or some other method.

If the parking spaces reserved for museum visitors are full, you can use the parking spaces in the same parking area on the Vaajakatu side. The parking spaces here have a four-hour time limit. Make sure to indicate the parking time with a parking disc or some other method. You do not need a museum parking permit in these parking spaces.

There are eight-hour parking spaces reserved for visitors of the Police University College in the same parking area. These cannot be used by museum visitors.

There are separate parking spaces for the coaches of visitor groups in front of the Police Museum. A parking permit or a parking disc is not required in the coach parking spaces.

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Exhibition “Art Crime Cases” responds to the wishes of the general public

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

In 2021 to 2023, the Police Museum hosted the exhibition titled “The Coloured Truth”, which concentrated on art crimes. At that time, this special exhibition enjoyed more than 90,000 museum visitors, but based on inquiries received by the Police Museum, many people interested in the topic did not have the chance to see the exhibition back then.

“We are now responding to the wishes of museum visitors by offering a new opportunity to get to know this interesting topic. The exhibition titled “Art Crime Cases” presents the pre-trial investigation of art crimes through criminal cases that have taken place in Finland. We also show what art fraudsters have done and how ordinary people have fallen victim to criminals,” says Curator Juha Vitikainen.

“We are displaying counterfeit copies of works of art, included in the collections of the Police Museum. The forgeries have been made of works of art by renowned artists such as Reidar Särestöniemi, Helene Schjerfbeck and Pablo Picasso. Moreover, museum visitors will be able to see examples of how criminals have attempted to convince buyers of the authenticity of the works by falsifying evidence of the origin of the works and their previous owners. In other words, the new exhibition discusses the same themes as the earlier exhibition titled “The Coloured Truth”, but in a smaller exhibition room.”

Welcome to the exhibition on October 1

The exhibition “Art Crime Cases” will open to the public on Wednesday 1, 2025. From 12 noon to 2 p.m. Curator Juha Vitikainen will be present to talk about the exhibition and its construction. The presentation will be in Finnish, but questions can also be asked in English.

The themes of the exhibition will also be discussed on Wednesday October 15 in the lecture series Police Officer of the Year. Kimmo Nokkonen, who was chosen as the Police Officer of the Year in 2004, talks then about art crime cases, among other things. The lecture series is in Finnish.

“Furthermore, next year we will try something completely new when the Police Museum goes on a roadshow: there will be a touring exhibition related to art forgeries. We will provide further information on this later,” Juha Vitikainen says.

To the page Temporary exhibitions

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Items from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service added to the collections of Police Museum

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 09:39:00 GMT

The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and the Police University College, which administers the Police Museum, have signed an agreement on the preservation of the historical artefacts of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service in the museum collections. At the same time, an agreement was concluded on other cooperation in recording the history of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service.

“The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service has a very interesting history, and it has played a key role in terms of the functioning of the Finnish state. It is essential that the preservation of the historically significant materials of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and its predecessors is ensured,” says Lauri Haavisto, Intendant of the Police Museum.

The collections of the Police Museum have already included some of Supo’s items, such as microfilming equipment and cameras. In 2011 to 2012, the museum hosted a special exhibition entitled From Okhrana to Supo, where museum visitors could get acquainted with issues such as an armored car of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service and see the type of cell where the persons suspected of treason were held during the war years.

“The new agreement with the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service will not immediately bring new objects to the display cases of the museum for visitors to marvel at, but in the future we will certainly also display material from Supo and tell stories related to the objects. The Police Museum collections currently encompass approximately 24,000 objects and 141,000 photographs, so not all material is available to the museum visitors at once.”

The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service was previously part of the rest of the police administration, but in 2016 it was transferred under the Ministry of the Interior. Due to the transfer, the Police Museum was no longer responsible for recording the history of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, until it was now agreed otherwise.

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Armored vehicle from the 1930s this summer’s attraction at the Police Museum

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 10:28:00 GMT

Located in the Tampere district of Hervanta, the Police Museum is open to everyone free of charge. Our exhibitions showcase the history and activities of the Finnish police force from medieval times to the present day.

This summer will see the Sisu armored vehicle, which was commissioned by the police in 1937, parked in the courtyard of the Police Museum in conjunction with the special exhibition "Marias and Mörkös – Police Vehicles On and Off the Road”.

“To be more precise, it’s the body of an armored vehicle on loan to us from the Parola Armour Museum. The body is made of 8–11 mm armor plate, and in its day the vehicle was equipped with a heavy machine gun and two light machine guns. It was powered by a 79 hp diesel engine and had a top speed of 40 km/h,” explains Intendant Lauri Haavisto at the Police Museum.

The vehicle served the police until 1951, when it was handed over to the Finnish Defence Forces. Nowadays, the car is part of the collections of the Military Museum, and except for this summer, it is on display in the exhibition of the Parola Armour Museum.

The armored vehicle is on display at the Police Museum from June 3 – September 6, 2025 and can be admired through the windows from inside the museum, where visitors can also watch a 1930s film of the Sisu armored vehicle.

Sisu armored vehicle in the 1930s. Photo the Police Museum

Exhibits and experiences for the whole family

There are two exhibitions at the Police Museum: the permanent exhibition Police is Here!, which uses crime and accident cases from different eras to provide information on how police work has changed through the years, and the special exhibition Marias and Mörkös, which features a diverse display of police vehicles: cars, motorcycles, scooters, snow scooters and all-terrain vehicles.

“The Police Museum features exhibits and experiences for the whole family. You can, for example, sit in a police van and take a picture of yourself in the suspect registration chair. In the special children’s section, young museum visitors can wear police overalls.”

All exhibition texts at the Police Museum are in English, Finnish and Swedish.

During the summer, free public guided tours, in Finnish, are also available for museum visitors. You can find more information about Finnish guided tours on our Finnish web pages.

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Interesting events at the Police Museum on Police Day, August 30

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 12:45:00 GMT

Welcome to Hervanta in Tampere on Saturday, August 30 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. to talk with police officers and police students. Come and see, for example, a police motorcycle and ATV, various vehicles, the bicycle police, as well as police drone activities. Police horses will be there as well! During the day, you can watch a police dog demonstration and get to play with the gaming police. In addition, several free guided tours will be provided at the museum of the special exhibition Marias and Mörkös – Police Vehicles On and Off the Road (guided tours in Finnish).

You can find a detailed program for the day at poliisimuseo.fi/en/events. Information about Police Day events taking place elsewhere in Finland can be found at poliisi.fi/en/policeday.

The event in Hervanta, Tampere is organized by the Police Museum, Police University College and Central Finland Police Department.

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Welcome to the Police Museum during the winter holiday

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 11:06:00 GMT

The Police Museum in Hervanta, Tampere, is open to all, free of charge. We present the history and activities of the Finnish police from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The texts of all Police Museum exhibitions are available in Finnish, Swedish and English.

During the Tampere region winter holiday week, we will also offer special program.

– Do you have any questions for the police? On Wednesday, 26 February and Thursday, 27 February, you will have the opportunity to meet a police officer and police students in person for a chat. They tell about the work and studies of the police and answer museum visitors' questions about police work.

Free guided tours in Finnish are also available during the winter holiday week. You can find information about them on the Finnish event page.

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Record number of visitors to the Police Museum again: about 42,600 visitors acquainted themselves with the museum in 2024

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 09:58:00 GMT

In 2024, the Police Museum attracted some 42,600 visitors. The previous visitor record was set in 2023, as the number of visitors was approximately 42,000.

“The special exhibition “Marias and Mörkös – Police Vehicles On and Off the Road”, opened at the end of April, has brought groups interested in vehicles and motoring to the museum. The police motorcycles and old police cars on display have delighted visitors of all ages. It is great that we have once again set a visitor record, in the 20th anniversary year of the Police Museum,” says Museum Director, Intendant Lauri Haavisto.

The Police Museum is a visitor destination for the whole family and is particularly praised by museum visitors for its child-friendly nature.

“Reaching children and young people is important to us, and this way, we contribute to supporting the preventive work of the police. At the Police Museum, children get the opportunity to put themselves in a police officer’s boots and become familiar with police work at the same time. Last year, we launched traffic safety events for young people as a new activity, together with Central Finland Police Department.”

In August, the Police Museum participated in the national Police Day. During the event, visitors could see police horses and dogs at the museum, as well as the museum’s social media police cat. Guided tours were also offered to visitors alongside various activity points. The Police Day event attracted thousands of visitors to the museum.

Approximately 3,000 visitors to the Crime Museum

The Crime Museum, operating under the Police Museum, attracted approximately 3,000 visitors in 2024. The Crime Museum is located on the National Bureau of Investigation's premises in Vantaa, and is only open to visitor groups consisting of police personnel and stakeholders of the police.

“A new exhibition was opened at the Crime Museum after a couple of years of remodeling and renovation work. The exhibition presents, for example, criminal history and the development of forensic criminal investigation. It includes exhibits from well-known crime cases, including the Lake Bodom triple murder,” says Lauri Haavisto.

“The Crime Museum's exhibition is not open to the general public, but some exhibits from the Crime Museum's collection are on display at the Police Museum in Tampere. For example, there are shoes related to the Lake Bodom triple murder and the talisman-magic charm of the notorious scammer Auervaara.”

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Christmas break at the Police Museum 16 December – 10 January

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

You can take a virtual tour of the Police Museum on your own computer or smartphone. On the virtual tour, you can look into various exhibition rooms and view interesting videos and exhibits that shed light on the history of the police.

At present, the museum offers three online exhibitions. The online exhibition “Crime and Love” highlights the changes in the attitudes of the police towards sexual minorities over time. The online exhibition “The police of independent Finland” describes the development of police work and professional skills during Finland’s national independence. The online exhibition “From Breeches to Coveralls” presents the history of Finnish police uniforms.

The Police Museum’s YouTube channel features videos related to the exhibitions and history of the police. Some of the YouTube videos have subtitles in English.

Welcome to visit the Police Museum on site after the Christmas break! Entry is free and the museum offers plenty to see and experience for the whole family.

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Free guided tour in English on 29 October

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 13:02:00 GMT

Welcome to join a guided tour of the exhibitions at the Police Museum! During the guided tour, you will get acquainted with "The Police is Here!" exhibition and hear about the history of the Finnish police from the Middle Ages to the present day. In addition, the guided tour covers the Marias and Mörkös exhibition, which provides information about the history and current situation of Finnish police vehicles.

The English-language tour starts at 5:30 p.m. and lasts about one hour. The guided tour is intended for adults and 25 people can participate.

On evening tour days, the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition to the evening tour in English on 29 October, evening tours will also be arranged this autumn on 1 October and 19 November 2024 (in Finnish).

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Interesting events at the Police Museum on Police Day, 10 August

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 07:35:00 GMT

Welcome to Hervanta in Tampere on Saturday, 10 August from 12 noon to 5 p.m., to talk with police officers and police students and get acquainted with a wide range of equipment. The Police Museum and the parking area in front will be filled with police vehicles and demonstration points. During the day, you can watch a police dog demonstration and gaming police stream, for example. Police horses will be on site as well! In addition, several free guided tours will be provided at the museum of the exhibition “Marias and Mörkös (guided tours in Finnish).

There will be lots of fun activities for the whole family – make sure to save the date in your calendar now. The exact program of the day and information about the demonstration and exhibition points will be published closer to the event at poliisimuseo.fi/en/events. Information about Police Day events elsewhere in Finland can be found online at poliisi.fi/en/policeday.

The event in Hervanta, Tampere is organized by the Police Museum, Police University College and Central Finland Police Department.

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