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What do I need to know?
- the name of the police district or a subject of interest (for example, "Depot" or "Crown Law")
- a date range of interest
You can browse a listing of the records here. There are around 20 police districts, and a similar number of subject areas.
How do I search?
Enter a police district or subject area and date range into the search box fields.
About these records
The correspondence in this series was created as part of the management and administration of the Police Force and as a means of communicating essential matters, decisions and information important to the exercise of its law enforcement functions.
The correspondence is that sent to the Chief Commissioner of Police as the chief executive officer of the Victoria Police. The Police used the nineteenth century practice of responding to a piece of correspondence by annotating the original and then returning this to the office of origin or forwarding correspondence with an annotation rather than a separate covering letter or memorandum. Records of incoming correspondence were kept by the copying of significant letters by the recipient or by the noting of a precis in the Minute Book.
Who created these records?
Victoria Police 1853-present (VA 724)
Next Steps
Order the records to view in a Reading Room
What are in these records?
The correspondence covers a range of police administrative matters, including:
- training
- communications from the Chief Inspector
- buildings
- land use
- watch house reports
- officer supervision
- pay
- criminal investigations
- interactions with the Crown Law Department
- interstate and overseas police forces
Tip! Record series VPRS 807 Inwards Correspondence Files of the Victoria Police contains similar records to those found in VPRS 937. The records in VPRS 807 extend through to 1935, but unlike VPRS 937, they are not arranged or listed by district, so there could be a large quantity of correspondence for the period you're interested in.
Start by ordering any registers and indexes which cover the relevant date range. View them in the Reading Room and try to identify subjects and / or people of interest, and the relevant file numbers for correspondence related to them, contained in VPRS 807.
Material in the Public Record Office Victoria archival collection contains words and descriptions that reflect attitudes and government policies at different times which may be insensitive and upsetting
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be aware the collection and website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.
PROV provides advice to researchers wishing to access, publish or re-use records about Aboriginal Peoples