Having already done some consultancy work for North Wales Police, I recently wrote this piece for the launch of NWP’s new Web 2.0 hub – Y Glas. It begins…
North Wales Police is enhancing its online presence by launching a new online hub, “Y Glas”, on the 27th April. This new, Web 2.0-inspired page is designed to highlight the force’s online initiatives, which range from blogs and online crime maps to new social networking and community initiatives on Facebook and YouTube. Y Glas will exist alongside the current North Wales Police website.
What is Y Glas?
Y Glas (“The Blues”) represents a new way of interacting and engaging with the North Wales Police force. Officers are now contactable by phone, email and Facebook, via a PC or a laptop at home, or anywhere via an Internet-connected mobile phone.
It’s not a monitoring device. There is no intent to ‘police the Internet’. Instead, Y Glas is a method of connecting and communicating with the local community. The new Web 2.0 elements provide places where the public can engage with police officers directly, one to one. It’s policing ‘on demand’.
North Wales Police on Facebook
Y Glas connects to the North Wales Police Facebook page, which offers online crime maps, YouTube videos and links to Neighbourhood Policing Teams in the North Wales area. By clicking on one of these teams, the public can view details of their local police station, find contact numbers, view relevant local news bulletins and see who their local police officers are.
North Wales Police officer Mike Smith is reinventing the idea of local policing with his pioneering work on Facebook. Smith runs a number of local initiatives using his Facebook profile as a contact point and a broadcast mechanism. These have involved youth engagement, crime awareness and encouraging people to look for new jobs. As a ‘Facebook champion’ for the North Wales Police, Smith continues to prove that online policing not only works, but that there’s a demand for it.
YouTube, blogs and interactive maps
Y Glas also connects to the North Wales Police YouTube channel. This features various videos that illustrate the good work that is done by Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
North Wales Police was one of the first forces in the UK to add blogs to its website and is committed to continuing this raw-edged, transparent communication channel. The North Wales Police website currently features four regular bloggers — Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom, Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale, Assistant Chief Constable Ian Shannon, and Director of Finance & Resources Mike Parkin.
Y Glas also links to interactive crime maps for the North Wales Police area. These consist of a scrollable digital map with relevant crime statistics for the area being viewed.
Finally, Y Glas has linked up with the Think U Know website run by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. The website gives children in age groups 5-7, 8-10 and 11-16 helpful advice and tips on using the Internet. A ‘Report Abuse’ button gives children an easy, secure way of reporting problems such as cyber bullying, hacking, harmful web content and unwanted sexual behaviour.
Why do the police need Y Glas?
Y Glas enhances and revitalises the North Wales Police’s Internet presence, enabling it to connect with a new audience and provide another entry point into the existing website and social networking spin-offs.
“We get 90,000 visitors to the website,” says Ian Davies, Head of Projects and Customer Services for North Wales Police. “In contrast, we get 45,000 calls per month to our control room. People are looking for information and the web is a convenient way to access this information on an anonymous basis.”
“People always say that they want more bobbies on the beat,” says Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale, “and we’ve done a lot of work on physical visibility in North Wales.”
“But people are also choosing to spend more of their time on the Internet, so it’s a real mistake for us to turn our back on it… People have a right to say: ‘why would the police want to get engaged in this particular world?’ But I’m pretty firm in the view that there’s a responsibility on the police service to be visible to all sections of the community who want us to be visible. There is absolute onus and responsibility on the police service to be online if people need us.”
North Wales Police is one of the most technologically advanced police forces in the country. Every officer in the force already has a Blackberry mobile phone (enabling them to get their email and be contactable by the public), while key officers are engaging with local people via Facebook and making local videos using Flip camcorders.
The Y Glas brings all of these initiatives and platforms together to showcase just what 21st Century policing has to offer.
