A police box is a telephone kiosk or callbox for use by members of the police. Police boxes pre-date the modern era, where every police officer (in developed countries) is likely to carry a two-way radio. They contained a telephone linked directly to the local police station allowing officers "on the beat" to keep in contact with the station, reporting anything unusual, requesting help if necessary or even to detain prisoners until a vehicle could be sent to transport them to the station or to jail. This was in the day when most police officers walked a beat or rode a bicycle rather than used a police car. An electric light on top of the box would flash to alert a beat officer that he was requested to contact the station. Members of the public could also use the phone (which was on the exterior) to contact a police station in an emergency.

British police boxes were usually blue. In addition to a telephone they contained essential equipment such as an incident book and a first aid kit.

In Britain, police call boxes first began appearing in the 1880s. These were direct line telephones placed on a post which could often be accessed by a key or breaking a glass. These call boxes were adopted and widely used in the United States (see picture, left).

The first "modern" British police boxes in the form of kiosks or booths (see picture, right) were introduced in the mid-1920s and were in wide use by the mid-1930s. The interiors of these boxes normally contained, for the use of officers; a stool, a table, brushes and dusters, a fire extinguisher and a small electric heater. The earliest boxes were made of wood, and later ones of concrete, which officers complained were still extremely cold. They played an important part in police work until the mid-1960s, when they were phased out following the introduction of personal radios.

As the main function of this box was superseded by the rise of portable telecommunications like the walkie-talkie and the cell phone, there are very few police boxes left in Britain today. Some of those remaining have been converted into high street coffee bars.

In 1994, the Strathclyde Police decided to scrap the remaining police boxes on the streets of Glasgow. However, due to the intervention of a private preservation trust, together with the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, the police box remains today a part of Glasgow's architectural heritage. At least four remain - on Great Western Rd (at Byres Rd), Buchanan St, Wilson St (painted red, however) and near the city's Cathedral. Two remain in Edinburgh as of 2001.

The trademark to the British design of the police box is currently held by the British Broadcasting Corporation, due to its association with the science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the programme, the main character's time machine (the TARDIS) is in the shape of a 1950s-era British police box.

See Also

• Koban - Japanese Police box

External links

• The Police Box page - from Ian McPherson's Kiosk Korner
• The TARDIS Library
• The Police Signal Box: A 100 Year History - 1994 paper by Robert W. Stewart (PDF format)