Leicestershire Police has launched an all new website (www.leics.police.uk) optimised for tablet and mobile devices.

It replaces the previous website, and makes use of online video site YouTube and audio content service Audioboo, and promotes over 120 Twitter feeds and Facebook pages about local neighbourhoods and operational policing areas such as the Dog Section.

It caters for new trends for online usage, increasing the use of dynamic video and audio content in addition to traditional ‘text only’ news feeds – taking the user experience beyond that of a newswire.

Natalie Proffitt, Head of New Media at Leicestershire Police said:

“Sales of Tablet computers are expected to double this year, our new website is optimised for iPad, iPhone and Android smart phones, in preparation for that.

“Consumers are tending to use their mobile devices over desktops or laptops; the new site caters for the video and audio streaming capability of those devices.”

Leicestershire Police has over 22,000 followers on Twitter and over 16,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook.

Media habits of sharing, forwarding and blogging are all supported on the new site making it easier to ‘like’ content on Facebook, and interact with content in Twitter.

The new site makes use of ‘categories’ – a new way of tagging information, which pulls together related content in one easy to navigate page.

Natalie Proffitt said:

“People have a genuine interest in police-based content, and what is going on in their neighbourhood. The new website remembers your postcode and presents the content that’s most relevant to you.

“At a glance you see how you can help with appeals for witnesses for incidents which have happened near to where you live, or follow your local officers on Twitter, and all in a way that is convenient to you.”