The Cleveland Police Museum opened in June 1983. It originally occupied a 1,200 square foot-space at the Police Headquarters? first floor, more specifically in the Justice Center. It featured exhibits documenting the history of the Cleveland Division Police since its inception in 1866. The museum was able to entertain and educate about 3,000 people in its first 7 months. In 1984, the guest book of the museum recorded visitors not just coming from Cleveland, but also from other areas outside the United States such as Mexico, Canada, England, Argentina, Bolivia, Ireland, Japan, France, Palestine, Brazil, Australia, and Italy.

Today, it continues to be one of the several law enforcement museums in the nation that are still open to the public. It has also influenced other police departments in other communities to come up with their own collections that say a lot about their histories.