GCPHS Awarded Grant to Digitize Century-Old Law Enforcement Records

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GCPHS Awarded Grant to Digitize Century-Old Law Enforcement Records

Contact:  Lt. Stephen R. Kramer, RET, President & CEO

Phone: (513) 300-3664

CINCINNATI, OH – July 15, 2026 – The Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society (GCPHS) has been awarded a competitive grant for its upcoming project, “Digitization of Historical Law Enforcement Records.”

The grant is funded in part by the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB), through financial support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and the National Archives and Records Administration. In the April 27th, 2026 award letter to the Society, Mr. Fred Previts—State Coordinator for OHRAB and State Archivist for the Ohio History Connection—noted the highly competitive nature of this cycle, with funding requests totaling more than double the capital available for distribution.

The $3,000 grant, which includes a local one-to-one match, will fund the acquisition of specialized scanning equipment and archival-quality storage materials. These resources will be used to preserve and digitize nine volumes of historical police personnel records (1886–1952) donated by a law enforcement agency located in the Greater Cincinnati region. The project will be executed entirely by volunteer GCPHS staff.

Once the project is complete, a searchable index of the digitized scans will be published on the GCPHS website to assist archivists, genealogists, and historians. To ensure compliance with public records privacy standards and allow for necessary redactions of sensitive information, full images of the records will be accessible exclusively at the GCPHS Research Center.

The GCPHS preserves and shares the rich history of law enforcement across Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana, representing more than 150 local, state, and federal agencies in Boone, Butler, Dearborn, Campbell, Clermont, Kenton, Hamilton, and Warren counties.

For updates, research inquiries, or more information, please call (513) 300-3664, visit www.police-museum.org, or follow the Society on Facebook.

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