Police Box
Koban
proper noun
This word is a little tricky — at first, the combination of mix and number in a series doesn't seem to add up to police box, but there's a catch. This word is actually an abbreviated combo of two other words: The 交 comes from 交替 (in rotation) and the 番 comes from 立番 (standing watch).
A police box is basically a tiny community police station staffed by one or two officers. It's something that is not common in many Western countries, but it is pretty much all over Japan.
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you'll know how to read this as well.
交番の前に、たくさんのジャーマンシェパードがいました。
There were a lot of German shepherds in front of the police box.
いつも家までの道が分からなくなってしまうおばあちゃんは、交番のヘビーユーザーです。
Grandma, who always loses her way home, is a heavy user of the police box.
皮肉なことに、家から交番が近すぎると、反対に不安です。
Ironically, I feel uneasy if there's a police box too close to my house.