Basic Information
A police station is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of police staff. It usually contains locker rooms, offices, and temporary holding cells. Interrogation facilities appropriate to the jurisdiction will also tend to be present, likewise storage facilities for siezed material. Also expect an armoury and maintenance facilities for any vehicles that the police use.
Depending on the size of the station and the jurisdiction there may also be things like forensic science labs present.
It may also include archives (or access terminals) for all sorts of useful information.
In less well equipped areas - especially in the deep countryside or on a frontier the police station may be combined with other functions and/or temporarily manned. More isolated stations may also contain barracks for the accomodation of officers, whilst larger, frequently urban, ones may have an associated section house of tied accomodation for (normally junior) staff.
Sources
Police Station Floor Plans (External Links)
Game and Story Use
- If the player characters are criminals (common in Cyberpunk campaigns, for instance), they might have to bust out one of their buddies from a police station holding cell before he can be transferred to a more secure prison.
- Depending on the jurisdiction, PCs might find that they become criminals without actually doing anything wrong. All the more reason for a shoot out.
- Also, PCs working in the intelligence business (especially Black Ops) may need to recover someone from police custody - because they are an asset or a colleague or simply to make them disappear. They may well not be able to request a transfer openly, but if they work for the same government as the police (or an allied government) then they probably can't just do in shooting - they'll need to rely on subterfuge, fake documents or, in extremis, less lethal weapons. This may still lead to a McCloud Speech.
- PCs may also want information stored in a police station or something that has been siezed as evidence and for one reason or another be unable to requisition it (perhaps because they are private citizens) - or be hired by someone who objects to having their property stolen by the police.
- Note that in some contexts, the right police station might be a lightly defended cache of very valuable supplies, particularly if a fairly rural force has just siezed a large shipment of drugs or arms.
- They are also good targets for The Resistance.
- If the player characters are superheroes, they might have to come to the assistance of the police if a superpowered criminal breaks loose there.
- PCs may also be police and be based in one of these.
- Generally police stations are considered 'secure' locations and aren't well prepared for an attack (unless you happen live in a place where the government has lost control) - PCs will get a feel for a state of Anarchy if the police stations have been fortified. Otherwise … well, we've all seen Terminator.