I am learning a new vocabulary. It took me thirty years to master Cop-Talk, and now I am learning the language of Museum-Speak. One term that comes up way too often in the CHP Museum storage area is “Found in Collection.” These are items that kind of just show up. I’m not sure where they came from or what their story is, but here they are. I can guess that many of them were things found on stops that “maybe I shouldn’t have kept so I’ll send it to the museum.” We have a huge collection of drug paraphernalia, some of which may not even be illegal anymore. When I come across these, it is rubber glove time, and a few of them have been discreetly disposed of. I separated this batch into several subcategories. This is the plumbing supply collection and just a part of the animal part collection.
APB Article Rich Mattos, Chair, CHP Museum