Description

Before the mobile telephone was commonplace, the landline telephone was an advanced and important means of communication. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Hong Kong Police Force laid telephone lines and installed telephone boxes on a large scale on Hong Kong Island to facilitate contact between patrol officers and police stations. The telephones were housed in a pillar-shaped metal telephone box. In those days, telephones were so valuable that each box had to be locked. The lock was as strong as a safe’s lock, and key copies could not be made easily. The keys were kept in the police station's armoury and were issued to police officers when they were on duty. For operational reasons, some officers were assigned a key semi-permanently. The key opened all police telephone boxes and the telephones were used by officers to report their location, request support, report work, etc. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Police Force adopted more advanced command and control communication systems and the telephone boxes were phased out. Only three telephone boxes have been retained, two of which are in the Police Museum and one in the Police Headquarters, making them valuable historical artefacts.