On this day in history: May 21, 1940

"Home Defense Units Urged Across Canada.” During the Second World War, Calgary Police were on board with the Mayor about searching Canadian immigrants from enemy countries for firearms, enforced by ex-service men who would be employed as guards. Here at YouthLink Calgary we have a display on Service and Prohibited Weapons used and confiscated in past decades. You can read more about the news article here.

International Museum- May 18, 2013

International Museum Day is a wonderful opportunity for museums all over the world to come together and promote cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding as well as cooperation and peace among peoples.

This year’s theme is Museums (Memory + Creativity) = Social Change

YouthLink – The Calgary Police Interpretive Center was founded in 1986 by a Calgary Police Service committee. The original “birth-name” was Calgary Police Service Museum Society and the sole mandate at that point in time was to collect and display Police Artifacts. By 1992 the aspect of programming had been developed and teaching crime prevention and good lifestyle choices to children and youth was perceived to be a proactive policing strategy. Over the years this strategy has been refined and is now continuously updated to reflect the challenges that children and youth face in today’s society. 

Behind the scenes we have over 5000 artifacts and equally large holdings of archival records. Our oldest artifact is a sloth bowl, which was used in the home of the very first Chief of Police in Calgary, John S. Ingram, who served from 1885-1888. The archival records show that Ingram was paid the enormous sum of monthly and that the constables were paid monthly.  The artifacts and archival holdings in our collection are used in the exhibit and programming galleries to reflect on the history, uniforms, technology, events, and Fallen Members of the Calgary Police Services.

Our artifacts and records are all of significance to the Calgary Police Service. We ensure that everything we collect is well documented, in a good condition, and that it fits our priorities and principals for being accepting into the collection. Objects with excellent provenance and documentation help tell significant stories about the history, evolution, and culture of the CPS. This would include the development & evolution of Districts, the addition & expansion of Units, the technology used and improvement of same, the Members and their roles within the Service, Sports & Fitness, Dress & Codes of Conduct, Science & Policing, and last but not least the impact of policing in our community.

To find out more about International Museum Day, click here to  visit the International Council of Museums’ website:

YouthLink Calgary: CSI Summer Camp

Summer is right around the corner and we are excited to once again be offering our CSI Summer Camp.  This daycamp is for children entering grades 5, 6 and 7.  The week will be filled with fun activities, great field trips, police officer visits  and the opportunity to solve a mock crime!  If you know of any budding CSI officers, please click here for more information about summer camp!