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The National Museum of Crime & Punishment

Visitors can explore the technology and science behind fighting and solving crimes, discover the heroes of law enforcement, and venture into the dark side of the criminal mind at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment. Described by Good Morning America as a “must see for CSI fans,” the new museum includes a crime scene lab and the filming studios for America's Most Wanted with host John Walsh. High-speed police-chase simulators, a simulated FBI shooting range, John Dillinger’s car, and hundreds of interactives and artifacts fill the museum. There is a retail store called “The Cop Shop,” and audio tours are available.

Once visitors pass through a medieval dungeon portal complete with authentic torture devices, the history of crime and punishment in America unfolds beginning with colonial times. The cast of disreputable characters includes pirates, Wild West outlaws, gangsters, the Mob, serial killers, and white collar criminals in pursuit of identity theft. An alley crime scene leads straight into a police station where visitors are booked and fingerprinted. The punishment gallery includes celebrity mug shots, a lie detector test, police line-up, notorious prisons and prison art, self-devised tools for escape, and a re-creation of Al Capone’s jail cell. Inside the capital punishment room are a guillotine, electric chair, gas chamber, and lethal injection machine.

The crime fighting gallery documents the perseverance of such notables as J. Edgar Hoover and Elliot Ness, while celebrating the courage of all members of law enforcement. The museum explores crime fighting techniques such as bomb squad and night vision technologies, and features famous firearms from throughout history. An entire level of the museum is devoted to the CSI experience, where visitors come across the scene of a violent crime and utilize forensic science techniques to solve the case, from blood analysis to ballistics.

Visitors can enter the television studio of America’s Most Wanted and learn about John Walsh's personal tragedy that led him to become the nation’s most well known and successful crime fighter. The studio includes the program’s hotline, where a team of trained operators field incoming calls, turning those tips over to federal and local police to apprehend fugitives profiled on the show. The America’s Most Wanted experience includes a studio camera with green-screen technology allowing for virtual interviews with John Walsh, the National Crime Prevention Council with McGruff the Crime Dog, and fingerprint capture for children through Cross Match Technologies.

The museum is located in downtown Washington, D.C. at 575 7th Street NW between E and F streets at the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro. Admission is $17.95 for adults (age 12-59); $14.95 for children (age 5-11), law enforcement, military, and seniors (age 60+); and free for children under the age of five. Hours are daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. March through August and from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. September through February. For more information visit www.crimemuseum.org.