A police box is a British telephone box or kiosk located in a public place for the use of members of the police, or for people on the street to call the police. Unlike a normal phone booth, your phone is located behind a hinged door, and the inside of the booth is, in effect, a miniature police station for officers to use.
Police boxes did not survive the era of mobile telecommunications. Nowadays officers use two-way radios or mobile phones instead of relying on fixed kiosks.[1] Many booths are now disused or have been removed from service.
The typical police box contained a telephone connected directly to the local police station, so that patrol officers could be in contact with it.[1] The public could also use the telephone to call the police in an emergency.[1].
British police boxes were usually blue, except in Glasgow, where they were red until the late 1960s.[1] In addition to the telephone, they contained equipment such as an incident book and a first aid kit.[1] Today, the image of the blue police box is widely associated with the science fiction television program Doctor Who, in which the protagonist's time machine, the TARDIS, is shaped like a 1960s British police box.[1] In the context of the TARDIS, the image of the blue police box is a trademark of the BBC.
History
The first police booth was installed in Albany, New York, in 1877, a year after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device.[1] Booths for police and public use were first installed in Washington, D.C. in 1883; Chicago and Detroit installed them in 1884, and in 1885 Boston was next.[1] These were direct dial telephones placed on a pole that could be accessed with a key or by breaking glass. In Chicago, the telephones were strictly for police use, but the booths also contained a remote control with a device that the public could use to trigger different types of alarms: there were eleven signals, among others: Police car required, Thieves, Forgers, Murder, Accident, Fire or Drunk.[1].
Britain's first public police telephone boxes were introduced in Glasgow in 1891. They were tall, hexagonal boxes, made of cast iron, painted red and had huge gas lamps fixed to their roof, as well as a mechanism that allowed the central police station to light the lamps to serve as a signal to nearby officers to call the station for instructions.[1].
Incident Book
Introduction
A police box is a British telephone box or kiosk located in a public place for the use of members of the police, or for people on the street to call the police. Unlike a normal phone booth, your phone is located behind a hinged door, and the inside of the booth is, in effect, a miniature police station for officers to use.
Police boxes did not survive the era of mobile telecommunications. Nowadays officers use two-way radios or mobile phones instead of relying on fixed kiosks.[1] Many booths are now disused or have been removed from service.
The typical police box contained a telephone connected directly to the local police station, so that patrol officers could be in contact with it.[1] The public could also use the telephone to call the police in an emergency.[1].
British police boxes were usually blue, except in Glasgow, where they were red until the late 1960s.[1] In addition to the telephone, they contained equipment such as an incident book and a first aid kit.[1] Today, the image of the blue police box is widely associated with the science fiction television program Doctor Who, in which the protagonist's time machine, the TARDIS, is shaped like a 1960s British police box.[1] In the context of the TARDIS, the image of the blue police box is a trademark of the BBC.
History
The first police booth was installed in Albany, New York, in 1877, a year after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device.[1] Booths for police and public use were first installed in Washington, D.C. in 1883; Chicago and Detroit installed them in 1884, and in 1885 Boston was next.[1] These were direct dial telephones placed on a pole that could be accessed with a key or by breaking glass. In Chicago, the telephones were strictly for police use, but the booths also contained a remote control with a device that the public could use to trigger different types of alarms: there were eleven signals, among others: Police car required, Thieves, Forgers, Murder, Accident, Fire or .[1].
Rectangular wooden booths were introduced in Sunderland in 1923 and in Newcastle in 1925.[2] The Metropolitan Police introduced the booths in London between 1928 and 1937,[3] and the design that later made them best known was made by Gilbert MacKenzie Trench in 1929.[4][5] Although some sources[4] say that the first booths were made of wood, the original designs of McKenzie indicates that only the cabin door was made of wood (specifically, teak).[5] The officers protested that it was too cold in those cabins. Inside for them there was usually a stool, a table, brushes and feather dusters, a fire extinguisher and a small electric heater. Like the Glasgow booths of the 19th century, the London ones had a light on the roof that would flash as a signal for officers to call the police station. By this time, those lights were already electric.[3].
By 1953, there were 685 police boxes on the streets of London.[6] Boxes took an important role in police work until 1969-1970, when they became obsolete following the introduction of personal radios. As the primary function of the boxes had been overtaken by the rise of devices such as the walkie-talkie, there are very few police boxes left in the UK today. Some have been converted into small cafes. These are common in Edinburgh, although the city has a few dozen that are untouched, most in varying degrees of disrepair. Edinburgh's boxes are relatively large, rectangular in shape and with a design inspired by the city's abundance of neoclassical architecture.[7] A police box located in Newton Linford, in Leicestershire, is still in use today by the local police.[8][9].
In 1994, Strathclyde Police decided to dismantle the remaining cabins in Glasgow. However, thanks to the intervention of the Emergency Service Civil Defense and Preservation Committee and the Glasgow Buildings Preservation Committee, some cabins were preserved and remain today as part of Glasgow's architectural heritage. At least four remain: on Great Western Road, Buchanan Street, Wilson Street and Cathedral Square. There was also a red police box preserved in Glasgow's transport museum, but it was returned to the civil defense committee after the Glasgow board decided it did not fit with the new transport museum. The Great Western Road booth operates as a coffee and donut kiosk, the Cathedral Square booth operates as the "Tardis of Tartan", selling Scottish souvenirs, and the Buchanan Street booth has a license to sell ice cream.[7] All have committee restrictions on modifying the exterior of the booths beyond the traditional design.
The Emergency Service Civil Defense and Preservation Committee today manages eleven of the UK's last Gilbert Mackenzie Trench style cabins on behalf of a private collector. Another blue police box of this style is preserved in the National Tramway Museum, in Crich, Derbyshire. Another is opposite the Kent Police Museum, in Chatham "Chatham (Kent)"), Kent.[11] and another at the Grampian Transport Museum. An original MacKenzie Trench cabin still exists in the grounds of the Metropolitan Police Academy in Hendon. It has no public access, but is easily seen from the northern line of the tube that runs from Colindale to Hendon Central (on the left).
In 1997, a new police box based on Mackenzie Trench's design was erected outside Earl's Court tube station in London, equipped with closed-circuit television cameras and a telephone for calling the police. The telephone ceased operation in April 2000 when London's telephone number changed, but the box was preserved, although funds for its maintenance had long since run out. In March 2005, the Metropolitan Police again carried out renovations and maintenance on the cabin (which is a tourist attraction thanks to its association with Doctor Who).
Glasgow introduced a new police box design in 2005. The new boxes are computerized kiosks that connect the caller to a police operator with a closed-circuit camera. They are ten feet (about 3 meters) high with a chrome finish and function as 24-hour information points, with three screens providing information on crime prevention, police recruitment, and even tourist information.[12].
Manchester also has help points similar to those in Glasgow, which contain a siren "Siren (acoustic instrument)") that activates if the emergency button is pressed, which also causes nearby CCTV cameras to point at the help point.
Liverpool has police box-like structures, known as Help Points, which are essentially a push-button intercom over a camera on a pole with a direct connection to the police.
Doctor Who
The BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who features a time machine, the TARDIS, disguised as a Mackenzie Trench-style police box. He can normally disguise himself to blend in with his surroundings, but his chameleon circuit was broken, leaving the TARDIS stuck in police box form, save for a brief period in a 1985 adventure. Doctor Who originally aired from 1963 to 1989. As police boxes became obsolete in the 1970s, over time the image of the police box became associated with Doctor Who as much as with the police. In 1996, the BBC filed a trademark application to use the blue police box design for use on merchandising associated with Doctor Who.[13].
In 1998, the Metropolitan Police objected to the trademark claim, maintaining that they had the rights to the image of the police box. In 2002 the UK Patent Office ruled in favor of the BBC, saying that there was no evidence that the Metropolitan Police, or any other police force, had ever trademarked the image.[14][15][16] Furthermore, the BBC had been selling Doctor Who products based on the images for over three decades without any complaints from the police.[15] The series returned in 2005 and the police box continued to feature predominantly in almost every episode. all episodes.
Although the dimensions and color of the TARDIS used in the series have changed several times, none of those designs have been a faithful replica of the original MacKenzie Trench model.[17].
[9] ↑ «Police Box, Bradgate Country Park, Newtown Linford, Leicestershire». Geograph. Consultado el 1 de agosto de 2008.: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/211510
[15] ↑ a b Knight, Mike. «IN THE MATTER OF Application No. 2104259 by The British Broadcasting Corporation to register a series of three marks in Classes 9, 16, 25 and 41 AND IN THE MATTER OF Opposition thereto under No. 48452 by The Metropolitan Police Authority» (PDF). UK Patent Office. Archivado desde el original el 5 de febrero de 2012. Consultado el 17 de enero de 2007.: https://web.archive.org/web/20120205080523/http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm//legal/decisions/2002/o33602.pdf
Britain's first public police telephone boxes were introduced in Glasgow in 1891. They were tall, hexagonal boxes, made of cast iron, painted red and had huge gas lamps fixed to their roof, as well as a mechanism that allowed the central police station to light the lamps to serve as a signal to nearby officers to call the station for instructions.[1].
Rectangular wooden booths were introduced in Sunderland in 1923 and in Newcastle in 1925.[2] The Metropolitan Police introduced the booths in London between 1928 and 1937,[3] and the design that later made them best known was made by Gilbert MacKenzie Trench in 1929.[4][5] Although some sources[4] say that the first booths were made of wood, the original designs of McKenzie indicates that only the cabin door was made of wood (specifically, teak).[5] The officers protested that it was too cold in those cabins. Inside for them there was usually a stool, a table, brushes and feather dusters, a fire extinguisher and a small electric heater. Like the Glasgow booths of the 19th century, the London ones had a light on the roof that would flash as a signal for officers to call the police station. By this time, those lights were already electric.[3].
By 1953, there were 685 police boxes on the streets of London.[6] Boxes took an important role in police work until 1969-1970, when they became obsolete following the introduction of personal radios. As the primary function of the boxes had been overtaken by the rise of devices such as the walkie-talkie, there are very few police boxes left in the UK today. Some have been converted into small cafes. These are common in Edinburgh, although the city has a few dozen that are untouched, most in varying degrees of disrepair. Edinburgh's boxes are relatively large, rectangular in shape and with a design inspired by the city's abundance of neoclassical architecture.[7] A police box located in Newton Linford, in Leicestershire, is still in use today by the local police.[8][9].
In 1994, Strathclyde Police decided to dismantle the remaining cabins in Glasgow. However, thanks to the intervention of the Emergency Service Civil Defense and Preservation Committee and the Glasgow Buildings Preservation Committee, some cabins were preserved and remain today as part of Glasgow's architectural heritage. At least four remain: on Great Western Road, Buchanan Street, Wilson Street and Cathedral Square. There was also a red police box preserved in Glasgow's transport museum, but it was returned to the civil defense committee after the Glasgow board decided it did not fit with the new transport museum. The Great Western Road booth operates as a coffee and donut kiosk, the Cathedral Square booth operates as the "Tardis of Tartan", selling Scottish souvenirs, and the Buchanan Street booth has a license to sell ice cream.[7] All have committee restrictions on modifying the exterior of the booths beyond the traditional design.
The Emergency Service Civil Defense and Preservation Committee today manages eleven of the UK's last Gilbert Mackenzie Trench style cabins on behalf of a private collector. Another blue police box of this style is preserved in the National Tramway Museum, in Crich, Derbyshire. Another is opposite the Kent Police Museum, in Chatham "Chatham (Kent)"), Kent.[11] and another at the Grampian Transport Museum. An original MacKenzie Trench cabin still exists in the grounds of the Metropolitan Police Academy in Hendon. It has no public access, but is easily seen from the northern line of the tube that runs from Colindale to Hendon Central (on the left).
In 1997, a new police box based on Mackenzie Trench's design was erected outside Earl's Court tube station in London, equipped with closed-circuit television cameras and a telephone for calling the police. The telephone ceased operation in April 2000 when London's telephone number changed, but the box was preserved, although funds for its maintenance had long since run out. In March 2005, the Metropolitan Police again carried out renovations and maintenance on the cabin (which is a tourist attraction thanks to its association with Doctor Who).
Glasgow introduced a new police box design in 2005. The new boxes are computerized kiosks that connect the caller to a police operator with a closed-circuit camera. They are ten feet (about 3 meters) high with a chrome finish and function as 24-hour information points, with three screens providing information on crime prevention, police recruitment, and even tourist information.[12].
Manchester also has help points similar to those in Glasgow, which contain a siren "Siren (acoustic instrument)") that activates if the emergency button is pressed, which also causes nearby CCTV cameras to point at the help point.
Liverpool has police box-like structures, known as Help Points, which are essentially a push-button intercom over a camera on a pole with a direct connection to the police.
Doctor Who
The BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who features a time machine, the TARDIS, disguised as a Mackenzie Trench-style police box. He can normally disguise himself to blend in with his surroundings, but his chameleon circuit was broken, leaving the TARDIS stuck in police box form, save for a brief period in a 1985 adventure. Doctor Who originally aired from 1963 to 1989. As police boxes became obsolete in the 1970s, over time the image of the police box became associated with Doctor Who as much as with the police. In 1996, the BBC filed a trademark application to use the blue police box design for use on merchandising associated with Doctor Who.[13].
In 1998, the Metropolitan Police objected to the trademark claim, maintaining that they had the rights to the image of the police box. In 2002 the UK Patent Office ruled in favor of the BBC, saying that there was no evidence that the Metropolitan Police, or any other police force, had ever trademarked the image.[14][15][16] Furthermore, the BBC had been selling Doctor Who products based on the images for over three decades without any complaints from the police.[15] The series returned in 2005 and the police box continued to feature predominantly in almost every episode. all episodes.
Although the dimensions and color of the TARDIS used in the series have changed several times, none of those designs have been a faithful replica of the original MacKenzie Trench model.[17].
[9] ↑ «Police Box, Bradgate Country Park, Newtown Linford, Leicestershire». Geograph. Consultado el 1 de agosto de 2008.: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/211510
[15] ↑ a b Knight, Mike. «IN THE MATTER OF Application No. 2104259 by The British Broadcasting Corporation to register a series of three marks in Classes 9, 16, 25 and 41 AND IN THE MATTER OF Opposition thereto under No. 48452 by The Metropolitan Police Authority» (PDF). UK Patent Office. Archivado desde el original el 5 de febrero de 2012. Consultado el 17 de enero de 2007.: https://web.archive.org/web/20120205080523/http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm//legal/decisions/2002/o33602.pdf