It’s a struggle to find this place, primarily thanks to a daft address that has you thinking it’s on Nowolipie. Well, technically it is, though you’re actually better off locating Kino Muranów by Metro Ratusz then heading forth in the direction of the grand looking yellow building a couple of hundred metres to the side. It’s outside you’ll see a couple of vintage looking cop cars, as well as a riot van once used in the dark days of communism when this mob were known as the Milicja. Entrance to the museum itself is guarded by a stern looking chap armed to the teeth, so abandon any hope of stealing any keepsakes. First off, the building itself is worth getting to know a little better; originally completed in 1765 it was remodeled in classical style in 1824 by Antoni Corazzi. Adorned with sculptures and reliefs by Norblin and Malińskiego the palace, formerly the seat of  the Minister of the Interior, Tadeusz Mostowski, was given a right battering during the Warsaw Uprising, and rebuilt in 1949. Since then it has operated as police HQ, with the museum added only in recent years. The bad news is that there’s actually not much to see, at least not right now. In storage are Cold War listening devices secreted in light bulbs and ashtrays, uniforms and countless other curiosities, though for the time being they remain gathering dust in some distant storehouse. Indeed, right now the history of Warsaw’s police is limited to documents, badges and clippings, and takes up little more than a corridor. Changes are anticipated some time this year, but probably best not to hold your breath.

Admission free.