CPD Web site makes changes
The updated site is more creative and interactive.
Published Feb. 16, 2010
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The Columbia Police Department’s updated Web site now has links to CrimeReports.com and Crime Stoppers on its home page. CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said she will continue adding new content to the Web site.
Content on the Columbia Police Department's Web site has undergone significant changes, CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said.
Haden said the site previously contained out of date information. Consequently, after the department moved to a new patrol schedule, Haden began updating content at the start of the new year with the help of E-Government Coordinator Sam Shelby.
"I removed out of date information," Haden said. "We had a lot of announcements (on the main page) that were not really announcements anymore. I don't want to have a press release we put out a month ago featured."
CPD's site still has the same look and feel as other departments on the city's Web site, but Haden said within that formula, CPD could be creative and interactive.
The Web site now has links to CrimeReports.com and Crime Stoppers on its main page. Haden also said she added links to Web sites she often refers people to, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Missouri Attorney General's office.
Some of the new content also includes a new "Q and A" page where Haden posts answers to questions people e-mail her.
"If one person has a question, other people probably have it too," Haden said. "Posting the answers on the site lets other people benefit from it also."
Haden also created links for almost every one of CPD's special teams, including the Forensic Evidence Team. The SWAT Team's page is not entirely current but will be updated, Haden said.
Although most of the new information was added to the Web site at the end of January, Haden said she would continue adding content.
"There's just so much you can do with a site," Haden said. "Most of our sergeants pictures and contact information is on the Web site. A lot of times when folks have neighborhood meetings they want to invite their beat officers, so their contact information will be added to the Web site."
Haden said she is also looking for printable brochures that can be added to the site for people planning community events.
"I feel like we've gone above and beyond, and there's still more that I'd like to do," Haden said.