Crime Museum

The Crime Museum, once widely known as the Black Museum, began in the mid-eighteen seventies as a simple collection of unclaimed property left behind in the Metropolitan Police storehouse. After a change in the law required police to hold onto evidence from criminal cases, the basement of Scotland Yard became filled with items that had no clear owner, particularly following the execution of prisoners. Inspector Percy Neame realized these objects could serve a practical purpose as a teaching aid for detectives, and he formally established the collection to help train new recruits in the evolving methods of criminal investigation.