A Salute to Law Enforcement at the Department of the Interior

May 13 - June 13, 2025

This case display commemorating Police Week draws upon the Interior Museum's collection to feature 20 artifacts from the Department's law enforcement history, past and present.

Did you know? The Department of the Interior (DOI) employs nearly 3,000 permanent law enforcement officers, making DOI’s contingent the fourth largest among executive branch departments, after the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Veterans Affairs. DOI’s officers are within six units:

Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Justice Services
Bureau of Land Management - Law Enforcement Program
National Park Service - Law Enforcement Program
National Park Service - United States Park Police
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Division of Refuge Law Enforcement
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Office of Law Enforcement

Two additional components are the DOI Office of Law Enforcement and Security, as well as the Bureau of Reclamation’s Security Response Force. DOI law enforcement officers ensure public safety and protect some of the country’s most important assets—from natural wonders and cultural resources to wildlife and critical infrastructures.

Exhibition Highlights

U.S. Bureau of Pensions Watch Force 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

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

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

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.