A police station (North American English and British English) is a building which serves as the headquarters of a police force which serves a specific district. These buildings contain the entire force, a dispatcher, their police vehicles and may also contain a jail.
Alternate terms include precinct or precinct house for regional facilities of the New York City Police Department and other urban police departments in the United States, and detachment for local facilities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. District offices are used by the California Highway Patrol, and substations are used by county sheriff forces with more than one facility.
