Since 1998, and in order to provide the premises of the Local Police with a suitable surrounding so that the citizens who visited them realized that in fact it was the Local Police Headquarters, the police officer Andrés Martín Gómez Cánovas had the idea of creating Totana Local Police Museum. (Totana, Murcia - Spain).

Since then, together with the rest of Totana police staff and the collaboration of the Town Council, the gathering of materials used by the Police, and the contact with collectors of Police items from Spain and other countries was started for exchange purposes. At the beginning, we started with the exchange of arm emblems, and later on we continued with chest metal badges, pieces of clothes for the head, pins, key rings and old disabled weapons formerly used by our Police. All the arm emblems which have been gathered, about 1400 units, are framed and grouped either by specialities or countries and they are exhibited all over the Local Police premises, although the great majority of them is concentrated in the Public attention Room, catching the visitor’s attention as nearly all of them make some kind of comment or praise about them.

In addition, a Totana Local Police motorcycle was recovered, one of the first ones to be ridden in our village, more specifically the one driven by Corporal Ceña, which was restored and completed with some elements that were missing.

We have also exhibited a small collection of steel blade weapons taken away form different delinquents from our village, and we have taken slow but efficient steps to try and compile old photographs of the “Guindillas” (“Bobbies” or “Cops”) years ago, intending to show with these photos the times that some former Police Officers spent as members of this Local Police, as well as some books and booklets with the regulations by which one-time nightwatchmen (people in charge of guarding the streets of Totana) used to be governed, before the Local Police came into operation, which was about 1940.

With the arrangements of the Police Station premises located in the Old Building of the Contributions, a small area was reserved and prepared to exhibit all these materials gathered since 1998 and to be able to welcome the visits of the public in general, schools and other colleagues from different corps, who coincide in the comments “there is a lot of material and it is lovely to see it”. Also, new material has been acquired through some of the visitors, as these people have offered the material they had at home, which used to belong to their relatives and they did not really know what to do with that, so it has been collected from their homes and later on it has been exhibited in our museum, as it is the case of a machine gunner rifle, also called “Naranjero” a disabled piece which belonged to the Civil Guard.

We will also mention that Totana Local Police have cooperated with Elda Police (Alicante) in the exhibition of Police Material carried out in their town, where some different uniforms from our collection were shown and we committed ourselves to take part in future exhibitions.

In Memory of our Fallen Heroes 09-11-01

Also, Totana Local Police have concerned themselves with publicising their museum in the different media, so that it was known in the region of Murcia, the rest of Spain and other countries. Regarding the local and regional areas through the local television, local and regional written press; and as far as the rest of Spain through an article on the magazine called “Servicios de la Policía Municipal” (“Services of the Local Police”) delivered all over the nation, with about 10.000 issues; and in the international field by means of the post carried out to exchange material, enclosing photocopies of the articles published on the press.

The aim we intend to achieve from this Local Police is to endow us with appropriate premises and enough material to carry out a large exhibition working permanently with Police Material, which can be visited by Totana citizens and the rest of visitors, as well as that it can be included in the programmes and the means used by the Town Council to diffuse the Town of Totana both in the region and all over the nation.

Finally, we cannot but suggest that you come and visit our web from time to time, as it will be updated and improved with every new acquisition of police material.

Signed. Andrés Martín Gómez Cánovas.