Users Flood 'Most Wanted' Website
01/11/2005 - London
Users Flood 'Most Wanted' Website
Crimestoppers, the only charity helping to solve crime, today (17 November) launched its 'Most Wanted' website www.mostwanted-uk.org. Developed by Reading Room the site proved so popular this morning that it received over 300,000 hits within the first five minutes.
The Most Wanted site is the first UK national and local website where the Police are able to post 'appeals' to the public about the most wanted criminal suspects in the UK and the public can anonymously submit any information they have.
Nick Ross, presenter of the BBC's Crimewatch programme hailed it as "the biggest advance since the 'Wanted' poster. It is astonishing this has never happened before. Apart from Crimewatch there is virtually no way of getting national publicity for most cases and many wanted people could just disappear - until now".
Crimewatch will routinely broadcast details of Most Wanted and will cross-link its websites. Until now, there has been no comprehensive source for police to disseminate information about wanted criminals in different parts of the country.
All 43 Police forces in England and Wales are expected to join and submit appeals for information, including crime details, photographs and CCTV pictures of suspects. The appeals are submitted by local Police Forces and are weighted according to the type & seriousness of the crime, the location and how recently the offence was committed.
The public will be able to view the photographs, CCTV footage and descriptions of the wanted suspects at www.mostwanted-uk.org and contact police by phone or online.
Most Wanted has been developed because historically there has been no single place for the police to continuously share information with the public about wanted suspected criminals. Crimestoppers was able to meet this need by developing a complete online facility for the public to view people who the police are currently looking for across the country.
People accessing the site will be able to view pictures of the most wanted suspects in their own local communities as well as nationwide appeals. If they want to pass on information they can make contact through the website, by a system which makes their e-mails anonymous or by calling Crimestoppers.
Crimestoppers' founder Lord Ashcroft "This exciting innovation is something that's been needed for a very long time. We believe the 'Most Wanted' Website will grow into an essential resource for all police forces. With 60% of the population online, we must make sure the public can give information using all possible means of communication."
Crimestoppers has been working with Reading Room who built the original Crimestoppers website and then developed the strategy for the newly launched 'Most Wanted' website where Police Authorities around the UK are able to post up details of the most wanted criminals in the UK.
The website which is hugely complex has brought together best practice design & technology that allows for prioritisation of Police appeals for information throughout the UK. The site is designed to be accessible & very usable for members of the public and is able to ensure that members of the public are able to view the most local and recent crimes for which they may have information.
The site proved so popular on that by the end of day one it had received over1.5 million hits.
