Brushed metal plaque № 31148

This Police Box, which is still used operationally, is the sole survivor of 120 boxes which served the Sheffield City Police and the community for nearly 40 years. Introduced by the Chief Constable, Percy J Sillitoe, in October 1928, in the days when there were few police vehicles and no personal radios the boxes were sited on police beats all over the City and provided a contact point for police officers and members of the public seeking police assistance. The boxes were visited by patrolling officers at hourly intervals when information was passed by 'phone between patrolling officers and supervisory staff at police stations. A 'blue' electric lamp, controlled from the local police station, was located on the top of each box and used to indicate that there was an important message to be passed out. Although small in size (approximately 5' square) the boxes were used by one, and often two, patrolling officers for meal breaks - usually sandwiches and a flask of tea - and for report writing and recording messages for other patrolling and supervisory officers. Occasionally the boxes served as a temporary lock-up for anyone who had been arrested and was awaiting transport to a police station. The boxes remained in regular use until the 1960's when modern policing techniques and improved communications made them obsolete.

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