Smithsonian.com

Photo: Milwaukee Police Department

The Milwaukee Police are tackling crime with creativity and great web design. In a first-of-its-kind site for any U.S. law enforcement agency, the unit invites citizens to engage with the police through the web interface in order to prevent crime and stay informed. In another bold move, Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel reports, the department also eliminated its weekly press briefings, opting instead to present current investigation info, crime statistics and videos on the site for accuracy and easy access for both journalists and the community.

“In the end, we created a government social website that doesn’t feel anything like a government social website,” Chris Jacobs, the Executive Creative Director for the company that designed the site, told Creativity Online.

The website includes live streams of crime rates, profiles of officers, most wanted line-ups and memorials to fallen heroes. Breaking news is updated around the clock, and 3D photography creates a visual effect that adds depth and movement to some photos featured on the site.

“Truth is, 99% of government websites are no pleasure to visit or navigate, with key information scattered or buried,” Jacobs said. But the current Police Chief, Edward A. Flynn, “gave us a rare opportunity: the chance to turn bureaucracy into a thing of beauty.”

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