Editing Police box (section)

{{Short description|Type of public telephone}}
{{About|British and American police boxes|Japanese neighbourhood police stations|Kōban}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}

[[File:Earls Court Police Box.jpg|thumb|right|A police box outside [[Earl's Court tube station]] in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 [[Gilbert Mackenzie Trench]] design]]

A '''police box''' is a public [[telephone kiosk]] or [[callbox]] for the use of members of the [[police]], or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in some countries, most widely in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s.<ref name="Tardis box">{{cite news |title=Huddersfield's Tardis police box is on the move! |author-first1=Henryk|author-last1=Zientek|date=17 March 2017|url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/tardis-police-box-move-12758464 |access-date=15 April 2023 |work=Yorkshire Examiner|quote=The blue boxes were once a common sight across the country}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.policeboxes.com/pboxhist.htm |title=A Brief History of the Police Box|author=Immanuel Burton|access-date=2018-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223225858/http://www.policeboxes.com/pboxhist.htm |archive-date=2017-12-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Unlike an ordinary callbox, its telephone was located behind a hinged door so it could be used from the outside by anyone, and the interior of the box was, in effect, a miniature [[police station]] for use by police officers to read and fill in reports, take meal breaks and temporarily hold detainees until the arrival of transport.

The typical British police box contained a telephone linked directly to the local police station, allowing [[patrol]]ling officers to keep in contact with the station, reporting anything unusual or requesting help if necessary. A light on top of the box would flash to alert an officer that they were requested to contact the station.<ref name="Stewart">{{Citation |last=Stewart |title=The Police Signal Box: A 100 Year History}}.</ref> Police boxes were usually blue, with the most notable exception being [[Glasgow]], where they were red until the late 1960s.<ref name="Stewart" /> In addition to a telephone, they contained equipment such as an incident book, a [[fire extinguisher]] and a [[first aid kit]].<ref name="Stewart" /> Labelled a "British icon" by the ''[[The Herald (Plymouth)|Plymouth Herald]]'', the blue [[Metropolitan Police]] boxes, designed by [[Gilbert Mackenzie Trench]] in 1929, became Britain's most recognisable police boxes.<ref name="Tardis box"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Doctor Who: Thirteen TARDIS-like police boxes left standing in the UK and where to find them |url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/doctor-who-real-tardis-where-6731866|quote=when talking about British icons which are nearing extinction there isn't anything quite as rare or as famous as the blue police box |access-date=15 April 2023 |work=Plymouth Herald}}</ref> The blue police box is associated with the [[science fiction on television|science fiction television programme]] ''[[Doctor Who]]'', in which [[Dr Who (character)|The Doctor's]] time machine, a [[TARDIS]], is disguised as a British police box.<ref name="Tardis box"/><ref name="trademarknews" />