U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder broke ground Thursday on a National Law Enforcement Museum in the capital that will put police officers in the public eye and promises such exhibits as Al Capone's bulletproof vest.
Washington's newest attraction in an already crowded museum scene that includes the for-profit National Museum of Crime and Punishment and the International Spy Museum is expected to open in 2013, charging a modest fee to sustain its operations.
Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer broke ground at what will be a mostly underground site amid courthouses at Washington's Judiciary Square.
The museum is to face the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, which bears the names of about 19,000 officers killed in the line of duty. It is being built more than a decade after Congress called for the museum's creation.
"It will tell a story that no other museum does - of three centuries of law enforcement officers protecting their fellow citizens, advancing the cause of justice and establishing a tradition of service that continues to keep us safe," Holder said.
Dozens of police officers and their families, who are helping to raise the $80 million needed, applauded him Thursday.
When complete, the museum is expected to include a forensic science lab, a mock 911 call center and a simulator that tests visitors' judgment on whether to shoot at crime suspects. Exhibits will include about 4,000 items and papers from longtime FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's estate, the costume from the movie "RoboCop" and Jack Bauer's sweat shirt from the TV series "24."
Law Enforcement Museum Chairman Craig Floyd said the museum's educational mission will set it apart from the others.
"We're trying to change the way the American people think and feel about law enforcement," he said. "We want people to be better partners with law enforcement in trying to make our communities safer places to live."
Floyd said the relatively recent emergence of new Washington attractions - especially those charging admission fees despite the free Smithsonian museums nearby - gives confidence that the museum will succeed.
He thinks it will be a big draw thanks to the popularity of hit TV crime dramas such as "CSI" and "24" and adds the probable admission fee of about $10 will keep operations going.
"People are fascinated by law enforcement and what it's like to be a cop," he said. "But I think people in many ways don't fully understand it. They don't really understand how difficult law enforcement can be, how dangerous it can be."
One area will be devoted to the 72 officers who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the deadliest day in U.S. law enforcement history, Floyd said.
The groundbreaking comes two years later than originally planned. Organizers said fundraising in a recession and design approvals took longer than expected.
Organizers have raised $41 million so far as two former presidents, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have championed the project.
Architect Davis Buckley said the core of the mostly underground museum will be flooded with natural light spilling in from glass pavilions overhead - meant to symbolize that law enforcement should be transparent.
"The museum," he said, "is going to demystify and tell the story of law enforcement in a very important and compelling way."
Part of that will come through the stories of officers such as Boston Police Det. Sherman Griffiths, who died in 1988 when a suspect shot through a door during a drug raid. His death inspired four Griffiths brothers to join the force.
Boston Patrolman Tom Griffiths, one of the brothers, said he visits the memorial in Washington each year to see his brother's name and will visit the museum once it opens.
"It's going to show people that police are out there doing what they love to do, trying to help people," he said.
