The online tool, launched today at www.police.uk, crashed this morning under the weight of five million hits per hour.
The site provides a monthly snap shot of crime and antisocial behaviour on every street in the UK, in what the Government has said is an “important step in accountability and transparency”.
Users are directed to type their postcodes into the site, in a process that aims to generate crime statistics without compromising the privacy of victims and witnesses.
Street-by-street with types of offences
The maps give street-by-street results for six types of offence, including burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violence, and antisocial behaviour. Sexual offences are included in “other crime” to avoid revealing the location of victims.
Home secretary Theresa May said that this is just the start of greater accountability in crime, policing and justice and will allow people to hold their local forces to account.
“We want people to be able to see what crime is happening on their street and to be able to tell their local police if they have concerns, and challenge them about how issues are being dealt with,” she said.
“From today, this new information will allow them to do just that. This is a major achievement, reconnecting the police and communities through the power of information.”
A similar scheme that worked in L.A
Minister for policing and criminal justice, Nick Herbert, said he had been impressed with a similar scheme in Los Angeles.
“I have been an advocate of street-level crime mapping since seeing it work in Los Angeles so I am excited to see this website launched today, particularly as I believe it goes further and is more comprehensive than any other scheme,” he said.
Website crashes under weight of responses
“Together with the introduction of directly elected police and crime commissioners, we are giving people the information and power to hold their local forces to account and ensure that crime in their neighbourhood is driven down.’
The site has so far had mixed reviews, with some towns not recognised on the search, and some users who have been unable to access the site at all – thought to be down to an overload of web traffic.
