Building which serves to accommodate police officers
Police Station In Monroe New York United States
Alathur Police Station in
Kerala
,
India
A police station in
Zhukovsky
,
Moscow Oblast
,
Russia
The
Tampere Police Station
in
Tampere
,
Pirkanmaa
,
Finland
Red sign outside a Swedish police station
A
police station
(sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a
building
which serves to accommodate
police officers
and other members of police staff. Police stations typically contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with
locker rooms
, temporary
holding cells
and
interview/interrogation
rooms.
[
citation needed
]
Names
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Large departments may have many stations to cover the area they serve. The names used for these facilities include:
- Barracks
for many
American
state police
and
highway patrol
stations and in Ireland
- District office
, typically used by American state police forces like the
California Highway Patrol
, but also used by smaller departments like the
Calgary Police Service
- Precinct house
, or
precinct
, for some urban police departments in the United States such as the
New York City Police Department
,
Memphis Police Department
, and
Newark Police Department
, where stations are in charge of precincts
- Police house
- Police office
, especially in Scotland
- Station house
- Substations
, smaller stations used by many departments, especially county
sheriffs
- Detachment
, most notably used by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- Thana
, used in the
Indian subcontinent
Multiple informal names exist, such as "cop shop", "cophouse" or (in the UK) "nick".
The area a police station serves has a variety of different names, such as precinct, district, division and zone. However, in some police forces such as
Hampshire Constabulary
, police stations do not serve a specific area and the officers have great flexibility over where they can operate.
Facilities
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Typical facilities at police stations typically include:
- Office space where officers,
detectives
and administrative staff can work
- Cells for detainees. In the UK, the area with cells is known as a
custody suite
- Interview rooms
for both detainees and non-detained visitors
- Evidence rooms
for storing evidence and seized property
- Lockers and storerooms for storing equipment
- A reception desk for public visitors
- Car park for fleet vehicles and officer-owned personal vehicles
- A room for personnel from other emergency services
Specialized stations exist in a number of countries, typically containing more or less of these facilities. An example includes
women's police stations
in Latin America.
By country
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Greece
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Headquarters of the Hellenic Police
There are 1,024 police stations and directorates in the Greek territory, each of them is responsible for the safety of the citizens in their area. They usually have parking areas for vehicles, interrogation areas and holding cells.
India
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In India, police stations are referred to as 'Thana' or 'Thane'. The term "thana" is derived from the Persian word "sthan," which means a place or location. The British colonial administration adopted this term, and it has been widely used ever since. There are regional variations, such as "K?val nilaiyam" in
Tamil Nadu
, etc. Police stations have a designated area under their jurisdiction. Police stations are headed by a
station house officer
(SHO) who may be of inspector or sub-inspector rank, assisted by an assistant sub-inspector, head constables, and
constables
. The number of personnel in a particular police station depend on many factors like area covered, population,
topography
, crime rate, sensitivity, important places and others. Some police stations may have police outposts under them. Police outposts are set up when areas covered by police stations have difficult topography, a lack of transportation, high population density, communally sensitive places and border points, or if the area is very large.
[1]
There are many police stations in India which lack basic infrastructure like proper buildings, landline telephones, wireless sets, vehicles, computers and adequate police personnel.
[2]
[3]
Specialized police stations also exist for specific purposes, such as cyber crime, railway, traffic enforcement, women, and others.
Ireland
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The police stations (or barracks) of the
Garda Siochana
come in the following types, in ascending order of size:
- Sub-district stations: Stations in small towns and villages, led by an officer who is no higher in rank than a sergeant. Since the 1980s, many of these small stations have been closed or reduced to operating part-time.
- District headquarters: Located in the largest town in a Garda district, with the most senior officer being a superintendent.
- Divisional headquarters: Located in the largest town or city within a Garda division, which in turn comprises multiple districts. The most senior officer is a chief superintendent.
- Garda headquarters: Located in
Phoenix Park
,
Dublin
and includes the office of the
Garda Commissioner
, as well as other senior officers.
Iran
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FARAJA police command established in 2022 replaced NAJA police force has provincial and county commands, Police electronic offices are called Police +10 (????+??). Iranian cities needs 2000 more police stations/bases per deputy command.
[4]
There are four thousand patrols.
[5]
United Kingdom
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The county
constabularies
in
Great Britain
were previously organised on a village basis. Most villages of any size had a "police house". Police houses in small villages were often staffed by a single
uniformed constable
, with larger stations being staffed by more. Local police stations were grouped together under the command of a
uniformed sergeant
, whose station was known as a "sergeant's station". Larger towns in the county constabulary areas had police stations staffed by a number of officers, often under the command of an
inspector
or
superintendent
, usually also commanding a
sub-division
or
division
respectively, and therefore giving the names of "sub-divisional station" or "divisional station" to their stations.
In
Scotland
a police station may be referred to as a police office.
[
citation needed
]
United Arab Emirates
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As well as traditional, staffed, police stations, there are a number of
kiosks
in Dubai allowing instant access to police services via a video touchscreen.
Image gallery
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See also
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References
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