483 Pantheon Road in Egmore was a two-storied building that was on the verge of being demolished, but is now restored and will be home to the Tamil Nadu Police Museum.
It will host a repository of exhibits that marks the passage of the enforcement agency from colonial India to a technologically advanced force.
The structure and its outlying grounds of 14 acres were bought for ₹21,000 and became the headquarters of the first Police Commissioner of Madras, Lieutenant-Colonel John Carne Boulderson in 1856.
Over time, to accommodate an expanding force, the building’s beauty was lost to temporary partitions.
Today, it stands shielded from the road by trees.
Doric columns hold up a grand portico where a blue Plymouth Belvedere, once the car that Police Commissioners and Chiefs travelled to work in, is parked.
Beyond the lone armed sentry is a parade of vehicles that marks the evolution of what the beat constable, the despatcher, and coastal security personnel used as a means of transport.
The first high ceiling hall with wooden beams showcases landmark cases dealt by the Chennai police.
Mannequins wear Sam Browne belts and sola topees, and uniforms of the various wings while a bandsman is surrounded by musical instruments.
In an adjoining gallery are rare temple sculptures recovered by the Idol Wing.
A battery of guns — from the old faithful 303 to a Bren light-machine — shares space with Winchester and 12 bore bullets.
The halls of this establishment entwined the story of Chennai’s police personnel, can take you back in time, showing the Indian Police Service in all its glory.
