Donate an object
We are always looking to add to the collection so we can tell the full story of the Metropolitan Police, the people who have served in it as officers and staff, and the crimes they have investigated. We collect uniform, photographs, documents, equipment, books and many more items. If you have something that you would like to offer to us, please email or post us a completed copy of our donation offer form. You must include:
- a list of the items
- photographs of all of them
- any biographical details you have of any named officer(s) or police staff associated with them
- the title, publication year and edition of any books or booklets
Donations cannot be sent to the museum before a decision on the offer has been made. We usually hold a monthly acquisitions meeting to discuss donation offers and ensure they fit our collecting and retention criteria, which we have developed in line with Spectrum standards, the best practice across the whole UK museum sector.
We are currently pausing donations until 30 September 2026. You can still offer us items during that pause but they will not be processed until late October - alternatively you can contact us about them from 1 October inclusive onwards. The first deadline for information and images after the pause will be 22 October.
We are particularly keen to strengthen areas in our collection such as:
- Policing and the Covid-19 pandemic
- LGBTQ officers in the recent and not-so-recent past
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic officers in the pre- and post- 1947 periods
- Women police officers in London before and after 1919
- The Met’s Civil Staff and their part in Met history since 1829
We only collect items relating to the Metropolitan Police and Metropolitan Special Constabulary. Items relating to other police forces, national and international policing, organisations such as the IPA, INTERPOL, NARPO or the College of Policing, or policing in London before 1829 fall outside our collecting criteria and cannot be accepted. If your items relate to any of those topics, please contact the relevant organisation directly.
Archives for county police services and their predecessors are often held at the relevant county archive - a 1989 list for England and Wales is available via the Open University. Many current police services like Kent, Essex, Thames Valley, British Transport, West Midlands, Devon & Cornwall, County Durham and Greater Manchester also have museum collections or history societies.
More on Met museums and archives
