Crime mapping expanded

Voters will be given more tools to hold Police and Crime Commissioners to account as the government’s popular crime mapping website is expanded.

With one month to go until the elections, people will now be able to visit Police.uk and see how crime in their local district or borough compares with crime in other similar areas.

The ‘Compare your Area’ tool will also allow visitors to see how recorded crime rates have changed over the past three years.

And in the coming months the government will look to boost transparency even further, uploading mug shots of convicted criminals on Police.uk so that the public can see justice being done.

Police and Criminal Justice Minister Damian Green said:

The elections of Police and Crime Commissioners will give the public a voice over how their neighbourhoods are policed and tools like Compare Your Area will ensure they have detailed information at their fingertips.

The millions who have visited the website show the public’s thirst for greater transparency across the whole criminal justice system. We want to build on trailblazing work in this area by publishing mug shots of convicted criminals on the site so that residents can see what steps were taken to crack down on criminals in their neighbourhoods.

By the end of this month, people in the West Yorkshire police area will be able to see images of convicted criminals along with a short summary of their crime and sentence.

It follows on from a pilot scheme in the force, known as ‘In the Dock’, which has proved popular with the public.

Other tools which will be added to Police.uk in the coming months include:

the ability to ‘draw your area’, which enables residents to search for crime information on a specific location such as their neighbourhood watch area or local estate

email alerts so that visitors can receive automatic notifications when new updates are added or if an arrest on their street has led to a criminal sentence