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All Canada Ontario Toronto The Moose at the Toronto Police Museum

The Moose at the Toronto Police Museum

Along with his smaller donkey pal, he guards the museum’s exhibits and memorabilia.

Toronto, Ontario

Added By
James T. Bartlett
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The Police Moose and sidekick   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
The museum is at the HQ of the Toronto Police   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Eldon Garnett created three life-size sculptures to celebrate the building’s opening in 1988   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
A ring (bottom right) that helped convict the last man hanged in Canada in 1962   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
A life-saving vest from a 1990 shootout   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
A mannequin head used for target practice by the Boyd Gang   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
This arch was from one of the city’s first police stations   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
  jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
Handcuffs, unforms, equipment and more…   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
This obelisk is 21 foot high, and made of Canadian granite   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
A mock-up for an early 1920s police station, complete with call box   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
  jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The 3,000-square-foot Toronto Police Museum shines a spotlight on the history and stories of policing the city since 1834. Alongside the uniforms, badges, handcuffs, batons, and other standard equipment there are some more unusual items—all guarded by a large moose sculpture.

You’ll pass under the stone entrance arch from the Court Street Station—one of the city’s first, built in 1834—and the life-size recreation of a 1920s-era station (Police Station No. 7) features a flash-light call box outside and an unhappy-looking prisoner in the green-doored cell alongside.

The police moose, located in the museum’s lobby, wears a full uniform including a “Moose Patrol” hat around his huge antlers. This sculpture was one of more than 300 decorated moose sculptures placed around the city in 2000 as part of a “Moose in the City” program. For a while, moose vandalism was a problem, but Torontonians eventually seemed to view them affectionately. In 2001, nearly half of them were auctioned off to raise money for charity.

Alongside the moose is what appears to be a small brown donkey wearing a poncho with the initials IACP 2001 on it, which corresponds to the International Association of Police Chiefs conference, an event held at the Police Museum that year.

Several other statues can be found outside the building. They were created by Eldon Garnett in 1988 to celebrate the opening of this headquarters and the work of the police service. Items on display at the museum include a 1980s police car, a badly-damaged mannequin head that was used for practice by the Boyd Gang, and a ring that was used to convict a drug-dealing double murderer—who in 1962 became the last man to be hanged in Canada. There are also a number of exhibits and displays from notable local crimes.

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Police Museums Statues Animals

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The public entrance to the building and the museum is far back off the street on the College Road side. The moose is located in the museum lobby.

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jbartlett2000

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December 5, 2019

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The Moose at the Toronto Police Museum
40 College St
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
43.661188, -79.384662
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