By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Detective Dick Gross tells the stories behind some of the photographs to be displayed in the museum.

QUEENSGATE - The latest effort to build a local police museum is taking shape: The carpet's down, restrooms are built and the collection of artifacts continues to expand.

The place is a personal mission for the members of the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society and its president, Cincinnati Detective Dick Gross. They want to honor the history of policing in the region, but they also think there's something to be learned from old handcuffs and grainy photographs.

"It'll help the community understand who we are, what we do and why we do it," Gross said.

"It might be a little corny, but I'd like them to have the perspective of where we've come from."

But the society still needs about $500,000 to finish the museum - which is behind the Cincinnati Police Federal Credit Union on West Eighth Street- before its doors can open to the public.

Society members are promoting the museum at Kiwanis clubs, retirement homes and other meetings. They established the historical society, which is largely made up of current and retired area police officers, as a nonprofit organization in 1999. They have been trying to raise money by selling $50 bricks for a paved sidewalk outside.

Several other attempts to build such a museum have failed, primarily because of a lack of money, Gross said.

But he hopes that when current and former officers see the museum is taking shape, they will believe in the effort and make donations. Many items, he said, got lost after previous museum-building efforts failed.

Cincinnati hopes to join dozens of cities around the world, from Akron to Sydney, Australia, with police museums. In Vancouver, exhibits include a morgue cooler where cadavers were kept. At the New Jersey State Police Museum, visitors can look at ransom notes from the 1932 kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.

New York City's Police Museum dates to the 1880s, when a detective started his own collection of police memorabilia in a corner of police headquarters.

Cincinnati's museum started with an undisclosed but "substantial" amount of money from George Rees and his family. Rees' grandfather and father were officers in Cincinnati, as his son is now. Tax records for 2002 show the group's assets at $192,000.

Much of the work to date has been donated, including the mounting of a police officer statue outside and the heating and air-conditioning work inside.

Glendale Police Chief Matthew Fruchey, vice president of the Hamilton County Police Chiefs Association, touts the importance of policing history. His village's police station - built in 1871 and continuously used as a police office - is the oldest in Ohio.

"We're very supportive of the museum," he said. "It's something I think people will really appreciate.''

Donated items can be dropped off at the credit union, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donations can be sent to the society, in care of the credit union, at 959 W. Eighth St., Cincinnati, 45203.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com