National Museum of Crime and Punishment

Crime Museum
National Museum of Crime and Punishment is located in Washington, D.C.
National Museum of Crime and Punishment
Location within Washington, D.C.
National Museum of Crime and Punishment is located in the United States
National Museum of Crime and Punishment
National Museum of Crime and Punishment (the United States)
EstablishedMay 23, 2008 (2008-05-23)
DissolvedSeptember 30, 2015 (2015-09-30)
Location575 7th Street NW, Washington, D.C., USA
Websitewww.crimemuseum.org

The National Museum of Crime and Punishment, also known as the Crime Museum, was a privately owned museum dedicated to the history of criminology and penology in the United States.[1][2] It was located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., half a block south of the Gallery Place station. The museum closed in 2015 and is now operated as Alcatraz East, a museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

The museum was built by Orlando businessman John Morgan, in partnership with John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted, at a cost of $21 million, and opened in May 2008.[2] Unlike most museums in Washington, DC, the Crime Museum was a for-profit enterprise.[3] It was forced to close in September 2015 by its building's owners after it failed to meet sales targets specified in its lease.[4]

More than 700 artifacts in 28,000 square feet (2,600 m2) of exhibition space related the history of crime, and its consequences, in America and American popular culture.[5][6] The museum featured exhibits on colonial crime, pirates, Wild West outlaws, gangsters, the Mob, mass murderers, and white collar criminals. Twenty-eight interactive stations included the high-speed police chase simulators used in the training of law enforcement officers, and a Firearms Training Simulator (F.A.T.S.) similar to that utilized by the FBI.[7]

  1. ^ Wire, Sarah D. (May 16, 2008). "Crime Museum opening in D.C." Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ a b Cooper, Rachel. "Crime Museum in Washington, DC". about.com. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  3. ^ Arroyo, Leah. "Sex, Drugs and Pirates: The rise of the for-profit museum". American Association of Museums. Archived from the original on 2010-05-01. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  4. ^ Stein, P. (August 31, 2015). Crime museum is closing at the end of September. Washington Post archive, retrieved February 22, 2016.
  5. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (May 23, 2008). "Some People Would Die To Wind Up at This Museum". Washington Post.
  6. ^ Hemmerdinger, Jonathan (June 5, 2008). "Where crime is considered history". The National. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  7. ^ Wire, Sarah D. (July 13, 2008). "Law enforcement takes spotlight at D.C. museum". Los Angeles Times.[dead link]