What's a "police box"?

"Koban" (交番) a difficult thing to translate. "Police box" is how it comes up in translators and dictionaries, but what's a "police box"? Is it like a police station?

No quite. And the fact that this idea doesn't translate is exactly what's wrong with policing in the United States. While we've spent the past 20 years developing *our* police forces into anti-terrorism paramilitary groups through military grade weapons transfers... [Source]

...Japan's well-paid police forces have been operating neighborhood lost-and-found centers, checking in with local businesses, conducting foot patrols, giving directions, and de-escalating public disputes. [Source]
In short, they're contributing to their communities.

"Defunding" the police is a bad idea because it's an oversimplification. Rather, we need to re-orient our police toward a different role. And I think Japan has a good model.