Highlights: "A Salute to Law Enforcement at the Department of the Interior"

  • U.S. Bureau of Pensions Watch Force badge

    Cross-shaped, metal Watchman's badge
    Cross-shaped, metal Watchman's badge
    Interior Museum Collection, INTR 03240

    U.S. Bureau of Pensions Watch Force badge

    From 1849 to 1930, the Department of the Interior (DOI) managed the Bureau of Pensions. Its offices were in the Patent Office Building (today’s National Portrait Gallery), then at the purpose-built Pension Bureau (now the National Building Museum), and finally at the DOI headquarters once located at 18th and F Streets, NW (now the General Services Administration).

  • Department of the Interior Watch Force badge

    Pin-style badge with a six-pointed star, eagle, and the words, "Department of the Interior Watch Force Watchman"
    Pin-style badge with a six-pointed star, eagle, and the words, "Department of the Interior Watch Force Watchman"
    Interior Museum, INTR 03259

    Department of the Interior Watch Force badge

    This badge was likely used at the Department of the Interior’s former headquarters building (1917–1937) and possibly also at the current headquarters building into the 1940s.

  • Hoover Dam Police Department badge

    Gold plated law enforcement badge with bison seal surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings
    Gold plated law enforcement badge with bison seal surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings
    Transfer from the Bureau of Reclamation
    Collection of the Interior Museum, INTR 07934


    Hoover Dam Police Department badge

    From the start of construction in 1931 through 2017, the Hoover Dam Police Department protected the dam ecosystem that straddles the Arizona-Nevada border. Today, National Park Service law enforcement rangers provide area security. A separate Bureau of Reclamation Security Response Force is stationed at the dam itself to physically ensure the uninterrupted delivery of water and hydropower. 

  • Butterfly Shadowbox

    Framed shadowbox containing nine butterfly specimens
    Framed shadowbox containing nine butterfly specimens
    Interior Museum, INTR 07287

    Butterfly Shadowbox

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Office of Law Enforcement upholds federal laws to safeguard plants and wildlife. Key collaborations are with conservation groups and local, State, Federal, Tribal, and international law enforcement officers. Their work includes combating wildlife trafficking, recovering endangered species, conserving migratory birds, preventing the spread of invasive species, preserving habitats, and securing fisheries.

    These nine butterfly specimens were recovered by law enforcement officers under the Lacey Act, the oldest national wildlife protection law still in effect in the U.S.

  • Cross-shaped, metal Watchman's badge
  • Pin-style badge with a six-pointed star, eagle, and the words, "Department of the Interior Watch Force Watchman"
  • Gold plated law enforcement badge with bison seal surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings
  • Framed shadowbox containing nine butterfly specimens