GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR AGENCY’S WEB SITE

By James Onder

One of law enforcement’s most underutilized 21st century forms of public communication outreach is the individual agency’s Web site.

 Law enforcement agencies are recognized as a key emergency service provider in many communities. The services offered are varied and wide-ranging in protecting citizens, businesses and visitors in the community. Now, with the rapid development and adoption of electronic delivery mechanisms which use the Internet and electronic mail, agencies have an opportunity to further extend the delivery of services to the population. It can also allow agencies to augment and support the traditional face-to-face, telephone, and mail service delivery channels.

What the Web Can Do for You

Many agencies consider their Web site to be an essential image setting element in its community relations and community oriented policing efforts. A well designed agency Web site can be a way to:

• Personalize officers and staff – The public can see that the agency is more than a bricks and mortar institution. It starts on the home page where the chief, officers and staff are introduced. Officers are given identity and are linked to their community divisions, their community programs and the specific public interest discussion groups they lead. This personnel enhancement technique is a key element in the agency’s community policing program.  Some Web sites contain the chief’s welcoming message; officers’ electronic mail addresses for a direct contact; radio frequencies to listen to officers; and an on-line form to submit nominations for exemplary work by officers and citizens.

• Raise citizen awareness of safety and crime prevention issues – The Web site gives citizens ownership of problems in their community and ways they can work with the law enforcement agency toward a resolution. It indicates that, while the agency has things under control, no one does anything alone. For example, on many sites, the public is invited to submit their ideas directly to the chief for consideration and then they may be posted on the Web site.

Through the education of its citizens and participation in groups, the agency can strengthen its ability to protect the community. Citizens still have to do their part to protect themselves and to be more streetwise about safety hazards, crimes and potential terrorism in the community. Polls have shown that many of the segments of communities want to foster a closer relationship with law enforcement agencies and an enhanced Web site can contribute to this effort.

• Communicate with the agency during off-hours – No longer do bureaucratic boundaries, physical locations or the time of day have to determine when information and services are delivered. It is known that citizens are more apt to submit a suggestion, report a pothole, or request forms (if it can be done from the home computer) during the evening. There can be a higher level of interaction with citizens when “the store is open 24 hours a day.” Law enforcement agencies have been reporting increases in the number of citizen contacts on law enforcement Web sites in the past few years.

• Keep the community abreast of all aspects of police management – In an open way, the Web site can show the agency’s crime data and trends where law enforcement efforts have worked and where more work needs to be done. Further, it can list the number and types of complaints against the agency, the reports and management studies that reflect positively and negatively on the agency and even indicate the funding needed to operate the agency. The site can also discuss controversial issues like the use of “TASER®s” or reports on meetings with citizen groups about racial profiling issues.

Some Web sites include specific items, such as an area crime pin map; totals of complaints against the agency (categorized as exonerated, not sustained, unfounded, sustained, administratively closed, pending, etc.); newspaper articles both for (and critical of) the agency; public opinion polls of the agency; and the agency’s annual report and budget.

• Project an image in harmony with their city – It is important that the agency be viewed in the context of the community which it proudly serves. The agency’s site can point to the city’s economic diversity and growth; vitality and diversity; opportunity for upward mobility and success; its business and cultural climate; regional setting and relationships; quality of life issues; schools; and quality of its hospitals. The goal is to show the agency’s role in this mix and how it proudly serves and protects the community.

Some Web sites include agency links to city services; acquisitions and how to do business with the city; ways to contact other responding agencies; city records, clerk’s office and information systems; tourism issues; and a list of school resource officers and their safety programs.

• Recruit officers and staff – An enhanced, well designed Web site can serve as the “brochure” for the agency. It plays an important role in showing potential recruits the services and types of positions which would be of interest to them.

According to a recent poll by the Society for Human Resource Management, 88 percent of human resource professionals now rely on Internet job postings to advertise position openings in their organizations. Law enforcement agencies may find this an effective resource as well.

Postings on Web sites may include the minimum standards for applicants; the complete application and recruiting process; sample test questions and an answer key; or audiotape testimonials from culturally diverse recruits. One agency has a sound track which allows potential recruits to hear academy trainees marching, singing, and running a variety of cadences as part of their training. Another Web site has a recording of the chief reciting, in a very convincing and prideful way, her agency’s ten core values.

• Save the agency administrative time and costs – The Web site is a fiscally responsible way for law enforcement agencies to reach out to the public. For example, agencies can post a list of the most frequently asked questions and the appropriate answers. Also, forms can be downloaded or actually filed on-line to save mailing costs and handling. For example, a “driver exchange of information” report can be filed in this manner. Some Web sites allow traffic fines to be paid on line; participation in neighborhood crime canvases; making agency retail store purchases; and responding to the agency’s “how are we doing” annual survey. Agencies can also save printing and mailing costs by avoiding having to send out paper versions of reports or brochures.

With an enhanced Web site, the agency can save time and money by increasing the use of electronic communications with the public. While, admittedly, traditional letters have a quality all their own and should be used on occasion, in the interest of today’s economy and staff time, it’s more efficient to use electronic mail for routine correspondence. Besides, a prompt response is often considered to be better than a formal one sent by letter days later. Customized E-mails can be sent which display the agency logo and mission statement. It doesn’t have to be the cold, “straight text” style we’ve been accustomed to in the past.

Some Web sites include an E-mail address to reach the chief or any line officer for a quick response; an E-mail address to reach an officer in charge of a specific program to work out logistics for a community group meeting;  or to E-mail the writer of a particular Web site page or to request a notice if a specific Web site page is updated.

• Provide citizens crime information – Citizens can access the agency’s electronic criminal data and records. For example, citizens interested in advocating safety programs can research vehicle crash data to determine the location of dangerous intersections; identify the frequently violated laws; review the crime map database to determine crime problems in their own community; research the database of the National Center for Missing and Abused Children; identify the location of stash houses in the community; learn about the agency’s unsolved crimes (“cold cases”) and to provide leads; and see photographs of registered sex offenders in their community. Business leaders can determine robbery crime patterns so that they can take precautions.

• Provide police personnel with quick access to agency information – Since Web sites can have most of the agency’s key documents available electronically, they provide a readily accessible prompt for officers and staff to respond to questions and to send materials to citizens any time during the day from any computer. The system can be so efficient that the requested information can be retrieved and often be sent on its way before the telephone conversation terminates. All officers and staff will be more articulate and responsive as they read from the computer screen.

Since citizens automatically turn to law enforcement agencies as leaders for information on a wide range of topics, an enhanced Web site can be an opportunity to provide information and referral to other safety, health and community-wide issues (e.g., computer scams and health resources). The Web site can have fast links to various city services and community organizations. Of course, since no one system is perfect, when asked about nontraditional topics, there can still be times when officers and staff will have to say, “Have you checked your local library?”

The Basics

The design of the Web site should follow the cardinal tenets of quality graphic design. The layout of the pages should be intuitive for first time users so they can efficiently negotiate through the agency’s services and programs. The colors should be appropriate to the agency, perhaps reflecting the patrol vehicles, uniforms or the agency patch. The fonts should be easy to read in size, with appropriate background contrast, and be consistent throughout the Web site. It’s important to have a uniform look to all of the pages, such as having telephone numbers or electronic mail windows placed in the same position on every screen. The quality of the design can lead citizens to feel that the site is welcoming, trustworthy and credible.

The Web site development and maintenance can take time and some initial resources. It will need to be the best the budget will allow. If needed, one cost saving technique is to combine the agency’s site with the city, fire department or other local area responding agency’s Web site.

To free the agency from maintaining the Web site, some agencies use an Application Service Provider (ASP) which will help create, host and maintain the software, computers and Internet connection at a reasonable cost. They will make certain the site is up and running well and that it meets certain technical specifications. For example, the ASP will design the site to be compliant with Section 508 Technical Standards, under the Disabilities Act, so that Web site pages can be machine-read for the visually impaired.

An enhanced Web site should continually be promoted by including the address on all agency materials, news releases and telephone machine voice recordings. Agency spokespersons should also mention the Web site when they address community groups or appear in media interviews.

Conclusion

It is important for law enforcement agencies to develop a well designed, informative Web site which can provide access to quality information and motivate citizen participation. Once the public is aware of the Web site, the rewards will come back to the agency manifold. The result can be a model, open law enforcement agency which can help build public trust.

There are some excellent law enforcement Web sites around the country which could be reviewed to provide ideas about topics and design issues. However, for your convenience, a detailed list of exemplary items on more than 200 law enforcement Web sites has been compiled which may be used for initiating discussions in your agency. A copy of this document can be downloaded at www.extrication.com/leweblist.htm.

About the Author: James J. Onder is an instructor at the U.S. Government Graduate School in Washington, DC, where he teaches a course in media relations to law enforcement and other government administrators around the country. He also provides technical assistance on public communications issues to state and national organizations. He writes articles and highway safety publications directed toward the law enforcement and homeland security communities. Jim has a doctorate in communication topics from the University of Michigan. For more information, he can be reached at (202)366-9785.