Museum of Policing in Devon & Cornwall

19/10/2026

The museum objects team have been in to empty the display cases at the Tavistock mini museum. All of the objects have been returned to the museum HQ ready for checking and cleaning and we will be giving the Mini Museum an update for reopening next spring. We thought we had got away with the weather, as it normally pours down when moving exhibits & objects around. The weather was beautiful up on Dartmoor, then, as we were coming in to Soakhampton, sorry I mean Okehampton, the rain thought we were missing it and decided to pour down.
Oh well hopefully we’ll get away with it next time!

13/10/2026

More about Police Dog Kain:

Tragic circumstances befell one of Devon & Cornwall Constabulary’s most beloved police dogs on 13th October 1993. Police Dog Kain was killed by gunman Ian Fitzgerald-Hay, who had fired shots at a public house in Moreleigh, South Devon, before barricading himself into his home at Crabadon Manor near Totnes with an array of modern and antique weapons.
After mortally wounding Kain, Fitzgerald-Hay turned his gun on armed response officers and was subsequently shot dead himself.

Rescued as a pup from a Bournemouth dogs’ home in 1989, Kain was so underweight that his ribs showed through his fur. He was adopted by police dog handler Bob Smith and proved himself an asset and saved his handler’s life on many occasions, including incidents where offenders were armed with guns, knives and even a pickaxe.
By 1993 Kain and Smith had earned five commendations.
Kain’s ashes were buried, along with his favourite ball, at police headquarters in Exeter.
A small marble headstone marks the burial site.

With thanks to Mark Rothwell.

08/10/2026

A 'true' but short story on our website about one of the last cases dealt with by Exeter City Police in 1966: https://www.dcpolicingmuseum.co.uk/theft-of-eleven-houses

07/10/2026

More about Kevin Sparks:
Kevin was a police officer for 22 years, he served at Thames Valley Police before joining Devon & Cornwall Constabulary in 2002. He had been a Neighbourhood Beat Manager at Stonehouse in Plymouth before taking on the role of Diversity Officer based in st Austell.
Kevin was known for his ability to talk to anyone, to bring people together and for his sense of humour.
We're sure his family, friends and colleagues will be thinking of Kevin today.

07/10/2026

05/10/2026

A little look at our archive work in the Museum archive stored at Devon Heritage Centre.
Photos: Archivist Andrew with volunteers Jane, Peter and Keith. Andrea looking through documents for upcoming projects. One of the documents from over 100 years ago - a case dealt with by Cornwall Constabulary.
Without proper care documents would deteriorate quickly and a great deal of work has been done to record and protect them.
The archive collection is in Exeter and the object collection is in Okehampton but we all really enjoy our opportunities to work together.

28/09/2026

Here at the museums HQ Okehampton, we are continuing to photograph and document objects including digitising old photos.

24/09/2026

At the Mini Museum in Tavistock we are reaching the end of our opening season.
A final few days to visit and meet our friendly and knowledgeable volunteers.

We will of course make an exception for the Dickensian Evening on 4th December, when we will dress in our best and open from 5pm.

Over the closure time we will be refreshing and upgrading some of our displays for the 2027 season and putting on an exhibition in Tavistock Guildhall Heritage Centre
More on these projects as they progress.

Thanks to all of our visitors for coming to see us, and a big thank you to our utterly brilliant volunteer team for working a tremendous season in Tavistock 😊