North Wales Police launched its new online hub, “Y Glas” (The Blues), on the 27th April.
With bold typography and rough-edged feel, it doesn’t feel like a typical police site. For starters, it tries to avoid the word ‘police’ altogether. Instead, Y Glas is an interactive hub, a single entry page that glues together the NWP’s various online initiatives. These range from blogs and online crime maps to new social networking and community experiments on Facebook and YouTube.
You could say that Y Glas is ahead of its time.
Why do North Wales Police need Y Glas?
“We already have a police website,” explains Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale, “and it’s got quite a lot of interactive functionality. You can view your local police teams, online crime maps, see a helicopter log, read rolling news, features and blogs. We’ve even got YouTube and Facebook links. But as far as engagement is concerned, the site hasn’t been as successful as we wanted it to be. It’s not bad. And it’s been groundbreaking in its time. But it’s also very traditional; very much Web 1.0.”
“Two years ago, I decided we’d create our own portal and give people ownership of it. And it’s worked. But the whole thing has been overtaken by social networking. Facebook, Bebo and MySpace own this world now. So what on earth is the point of doing your own thing?”
“So I wanted to move to the next stage. People always say that they want more bobbies on the beat 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 online, so I think it’s a real mistake to turn your back on it.”
The driving force behind the creation of Y Glas was to develop a method of connecting and communicating with the local community. The new Web 2.0* elements extend the NWP’s online reach into social networking, providing places where the public can engage with police officers directly. Think policing ‘on demand’.
Why do the police want to be on Facebook?
“The dilemma you have as a police force is that ‘do you get Web 2.0 or should you steer clear of it?’ And it’s a good point. People have a right to ask why 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. Y Glas isn’t about monitoring people. It’s a method of connecting and communicating with local communities.”
“Increasingly, more and more people, of all ages and types, are choosing to spend their discretionary time on the Internet. Not in the pub or in the library or in community meetings or interacting socially in other ways. They’re choosing to do it online, through social networking, through accessing special interest sites, through Skyping, however way they want to do it.”
“I respect the right for anybody going about their lawful business, not to want to engage with the police if that’s the way they want to be. But I think there is an absolute onus on the police service to be in these new places if people want us. As an accessible presence. And also, to some extent, as a reassuring presence. Because this isn’t a world that is barred to us. We are prepared to be in there, to explore it, and to look at what is concerning people.”
How will the police use Facebook and YouTube?
“We’re fortunate that we’ve got one or two ‘champions’ across the force,” explains DCC Clive Wolfendale. “They really do get [the idea of interaction] and have already proved that this Web 2.0 approach can work and make some dramatic changes.”
Penmaenmawr Community Beat Manager PC Mike Smith is one of NWP’s Facebook ‘champions’. “He gets it 100 per cent and he’s done some ground breaking work with demonstrable value to the local community,” explains Wolfendale. “Things like: youth engagement, crime awareness, ‘adopt a street’ and encouraging people to look for new jobs. And he’s done it all through social networking. He’s built up a respectable group of people who he can do business with on a local level.”
With Y Glas, anybody looking for their local police officer has now got that ability. Via NWP’s Facebook page, you can find out who they are, their direct mobile phone number and email account.
Is this the start of something big?
“Y Glas is a hub, a single page that represents the best of everything we do and points you towards these best bits — the interactivity. I think it’s immediately different to anybody coming into it. And it had to be a little bit off the wall, intriguing and visually attractive. Something that young people can relate to, although I’m not sure whether that’s ever possible. We don’t want to turn anybody off with it. We wanted it to look familiar to a teenager who lives their life on such sites.”
“So what you see now is the start of where it will go. Every six months, we’ll create a new solution and add it to the content on the hub page, such as Twitter and Bebo. For me what’s important is that we’re capitalising on existing strong products, not reinventing the wheel. Not only is Y Glas familiar to people but it’s extremely cost-effective.”
“So I think we’re ready for Web 2.0. A year ago? Probably not. People were still coming to terms with the last iteration of the web. What I will say is that you won’t see anything like this on a police website. I can guarantee that. Unashamed, deliberate footsteps into the social networking world. Some people think it’s a scary world. Some people think it shouldn’t be part of policing. But by using Facebook and YouTube, we’re meeting the web world on its own terms.”
Y Glas is online now at www.yglas.com and co-exists alongside the current North Wales Police website — www.north-wales.police.uk.
* What is Web 2.0? The term describes web development and design that focuses on interaction, collaboration, content sharing and community building.
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