Come see the station.

By Officer Tom Hanshaw / Watchwords
Amesbury News, Thursday, June 5, 2003

Ever wonder what's inside a police station? School tours of the police station are a popular occurrence, especially at this time of year. Usually the groups consist of 20 or so first or second graders, accompanied by their teacher and a few parent chaperones. Although the children are often curious about the computers, jail cells and cruisers, the adults are usually more excited about the tour and seeing what's on the other side of the front door.

In a few months, Amesbury children as well as children and adults everywhere will be able to read and see what goes on inside a police station. A New York publishing company, Marshall-Cavendish, is in the process of publishing a series of children's books designed to answer the question, "what's inside?" Other titles include a fire station, hospital, police cruiser, an ambulance and more. Thanks to Amesbury residents Tom and Liz Iacobucci, the Amesbury Police Station will be featured in the book, "What's Inside a Police Station". The book series is scheduled for printing in a few months and I'll be sure to let readers know when it's available in bookstores.

A few weeks ago, Chief Cronin received a call from a photographer from the Washington D.C. area named Jay Mallin. Jay was looking for a police station to use in the book and had mentioned his challenge in conversation with the Iacobucci's. Tom mentioned that the Amesbury Police Station had recently had some renovations and might just work. Jay needed to photograph a crime lab, computers, a dispatch area and a K-9 police dog but was having difficulty locating a station in his area that had everything.

So after speaking with the chief, arrangements were made for Jay to come up on May 7. He faxed a copy of manuscript of the book as well as some ideas for the photos the publisher was looking for.

Shortly after noontime, Jay pulled into the back of the station, camera bag in hand and ready to go. Over the course of the next few hours, he must have taken over 200 digital photos of the station, personnel and equipment. With the help of Newburyport Officer Keith Carter, Jay took pictures of a roll call, an emergency response, detective questioning, evidence gathering and even the apprehension of a "criminal". Images of the front of the Police Station, cruisers and K-9 Hans will soon be making their way into publication. Who knows, maybe even a book signing will follow.

If you'd like to get a sneak peak of some of the photos Jay took, you can check out his web site at http://inside.jaymallinphotos.com/policestation/.

It's expected that the book series will be available in a few months. Jay also promised that a few copies would make their way to the Station prior to distribution. I'll let you know when you'll be able to take a tour of the Amesbury Police Station with your children, right from your own living room.