How a Police Department Improved Public Perception & Engagement With a New Website

Fremont Police Department last updated their website over ten years ago. The navigation was difficult, the layout was aging, and the site wasn’t mobile-friendly. Plus, the old website’s platform was no longer supported. So Amy Gee, the department’s management analyst, was limited in her ability to make updates.

“People didn’t know where to go when they visited our old website,” said Gee. Additionally, the search feature was ineffective, providing too many search results. “It caused a lot of frustration for the community. The traffic unit would get a huge number of phone calls and emails from people just wanting to file a complaint online.”

The agency also needed a solution that would help them become compliant with a new state law. As the police department decided they needed a new website, California passed Senate Bill No. 978, which mandated that law enforcement agencies “conspicuously post their training, policies, practices, and operating procedures on their Internet Web sites.”

But they would need to go live with their new site quickly to comply — in just 6 months.

After evaluating a number of alternatives, Fremont Police Department chose Granicus as its vendor of choice. With just six months before the new law went into effect, the department began working with the Granicus team to build their new website.

Staff analyzed website data and analytics to determine what mattered most to their users and the design followed. For example, the most popular pages (the red light camera page and the traffic complaint page) were made easy to find on the home page and mobile site. The police department also built a transparency portal on the new website for their citizens that complies with Senate Bill No. 978.

The police department launched the new, compliant website weeks before the deadline. Gee references the Granicus project manager as integral to meeting their deadline. “Whenever we had questions or change requests, the turnaround time was quick. She was very thorough.”

The intuitive and mobile-friendly website is reducing phone calls and improving community engagement.

Previously, police staff received emails about broken links. “We would have to tell confused mobile phone users that they needed to use a desktop. We don’t have to do that anymore with the new website,” said Gee.

Perhaps the most telling example of the new website’s success is when Gee posted about an upcoming community police academy for the first time. Within a few days, they received 26 applications for 30 open spots. It normally would have taken weeks to achieve such numbers. The redesign made it easier for citizens to learn about and sign up for the program.