Success stories

Fremont Police Department Website Redesign

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4x Faster Citizen Engagement
Fremont PD filled their citizen academy in days, not weeks.
49% Mobile Device Traffic
The Fremont PD needed a mobile friendly website.
1,600 Weekly Visitors
The Fremont Website is the first point of contact with the public.
6 Month Deadline
The new website was created quickly to comply with a new state law.
Overview
With an outdated website and a new state law, Fremont Police Department had only a short time to launch a new website. With help from Granicus govAccess experts, they met their deadline and increased citizen engagement.
When considering a website design partner, we looked at our needs, pricing, and how easy the CMS was for non-technical staff to use. With all of that, plus great customer service and a strong portfolio of website design work, Granicus was an easy choice.
Amy Gee
Situation

An Old Website Meets a New Law

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.”

“A modern, citizen-focused website was essential to the success of the department. We are a public agency, and the website is the first point of contact with the public.”

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.

Solution

Intuitive Website in Only 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.”

“We never had such a strong community response with the old website. The new govAccess website strengthens our brand and is more user-friendly, which makes the community more inclined to get involved.”
Amy Gee
Management Analyst, Fremont Police Department
Results

Improved Branding & Engagement

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.

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