I am the owner, developer, editor, writer, staff member, and whatever of [Police Station Pictures] (PSP) website, [Police Call Box] (PCB) website, and the Facebook page [Police Call Box]. Over the last few years, friends and relatives (whom I usually don’t talk to and are not contributors) have asked me why I take pictures of police stations. I reply with the same two words time and time again: “Why Not?”
I should answer with the following:
My picture-taking started in or around December 2014. My wife sensed that I was bored and needed something to do. It’s funny how wives can sense stuff like that. We had recently moved to Venice, Florida, and I was not looking for a part-time job, but the boss suggested that I find something to do with my time. In other words, leave the house before “I kill you.” I know one may think I am being a little harsh, but the “I kill you” is a direct and accurate quote.
At the time, I owned a Cannon with all the trimmings. I had always fancied myself the next great international photographer. When I joined the Marines as a lad, I tried to become a Combat Photographer, but somehow, I ended up a “Grunt.” Since I am a retired Police Officer, I decided to take pictures of police architecture, aka police stations. Nowadays I take pictures with my telephone.
There are hardly any costs involved, which is excellent. After taking several police station pictures, I decided to publish them via a website, which I found to be a bit costly. Solution: I called my youngest of two sons. He has built and operated websites. Initially, he wanted no part of my idea until I reminded him of my status in the family. I begged him, and the sound of my crying was too much for him.
My son built me an outstanding website. It was everything I wanted, and he even said he would “host” the site, which I had not considered. PSP has been a hit, and thousands of people have viewed it since 2015.
I was the only one taking pictures for the PSP for a couple of years, and then I started receiving pictures from friends. Every once in a while, I would receive a PSP and post it on the website. Then I started asking people traveling to take one if they could if they got a chance. They did, and the site expanded.
Most of the contributors had fun taking the pictures. They would go out of their way on trips to take a shot, which gave them something else to do during their travels.
After about six years, I lost about 40 PSP pictures during COVID. I don’t have the foggiest idea of what happened, but it happened. Anyone who knows me would say: “He srewed up again.” But to this day, I know it must have been one of the Angels up above messing around on my keyboard.
In 2023, I came up with the idea of creating a website dedicated to displaying PSP pictures and whatever else in a Newsletter-type Blog. I contacted a friend, Tim Dyer, who used to teach computer skills in Pennsylvania schools and knows a lot more about computers than I will ever know.
To say he is a patient person with the mentally handicapped would be an understatement. It took Tim about three months to do whatever he did to build the sight precisely the way I wanted it. Of course, the teacher most likely built the site how he wanted it to and convinced me of what I wanted.
During the building process, I came up with a logo that I am thrilled with. I needed a logo, and I had no idea what it should look like or be, for that matter. Then, one day, I visited my older son’s office, and the idea hit me. My oldest is the Chief of Police of a major suburban police department, and in his office, he has an old-time “Police Call Box” that someone gave him several years ago. When I looked at the call box, I saw the logo and name of the site.
I was off and running after Tim gave me a few instructions on operating a newsletter blog. I only stumbled a couple of times. Tim may have a different opinion, but I’m sticking with “a couple of times.”
But I was never one to “let sleeping dogs lie.” I signed into Facebook and opened a page called What Else, Police Station Pictures. I can only handle so many titles at a time. I started on Facebook by posting police station pictures on the Police Station Pictures website. It has grown to postings on police stations, police cars, police boats, police buses, and police patches.
I have had only one major setback. In May of this year, the policestationpictures.com website disappeared. The experts at the hosting company looked into the disappearance, and I was told there was no cause. I know that the”no Cause” explanation is pure B.S. Again, my youngest son came to the rescue and rebuilt the website. He even thought the reason was a little strange.
So, there it is, a very brief history of my venture into websites, blogs, and Facebook postings. I have not done too poorly. I am not concerned about the number of followers and followings; I only hope some people enjoy the sites.
Oh yes, my wife now wants me to get something that actually brings in the bacon!
