Rochdale police officers at your fingertip

People in Rochdale can now find out who their local police officers are, where their local police station is and what police are doing in their area all at the click of a mouse thanks to Greater Manchester Police's (GMP's) recently revamped website.

The website, www.gmp.police.uk has undergone a major transformation and now has a range of features available aimed at reflecting the corporate branding and the introduction of a number of services to make information on the site more accessible for the public.

People can now simply type in their postcode and the site will automatically bring up a list of the nearest police stations and their opening hours. At the same time, they can also find out who their local area inspector is, how they can be contacted, what operations and initiatives are running in their area and how local officers are working in partnership with other agencies to improve the quality-of-life for local residents.

A whole host of other information is also available on the site including useful crime prevention tips, latest news and appeals, details of Forcewide campaigns to reduce robbery, burglary and vehicle crime as well as latest performance data.

Mark Cookson, web manager said: "With the new improvements in place we now offer the public more accessibility and detailed information that they can learn about in their local areas. At GMP we are committed to providing one of the best 24 hour access web facilities that is on offer for the public, and with further developments to the site in the pipeline we plan to expand the amount of information even further in the future."

In the next few months, people can also expect to see a subscriptions facility where members of the public can register to the site, which will allow them to set their own preference on the information they want to receive, or how they choose to view the site.

Commenting on GMP's new Website - Rochdale Council's Spokesperson on the Greater Manchester Police Authority - Councillor Barbara Todd said,

"I welcome this new initiative and look forward to seeing the difference it makes. I applaud any attempts that the police make to ensure that they are more accessible. I hope that residents in Rochdale access this site - the police obviously have to move with the times and I look forward to new and initiative ways of policing. One frustration that residents have is not knowing who to contact. There is the 0161 number that many residents are forced to call, with this website they will be able identify their local police. I hope that with this information at many resident's fingertips - the local police will be more effective on getting their fingertips on more criminals"