The Overview
In conjunction with the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Steve Turner, and Cleveland Police, Alt Labs created a UK-first app, aimed at helping people in Teesside report crime, antisocial behaviour, feedback on police performance and access information about support services. The app attracted over 2,000 downloads in the first three months of launch, across iOS and Android devices.
The Project
Develop an app people across Teesside can use to raise issues, complaints or highlighting community concerns, as well as passing on information relating to suspicious activity. Any information entered into the app would not elicit a police crime response, so part of the project involved clear signposting to the appropriate channels for reporting a crime.
The app needed to:
- Provide the community of Teesside with a new way to get in touch with their PCC and Cleveland Police
- Guide and educate public to reduce to non-emergency calls
- Develop intelligence around community issues
- Have an easy use UX & UI interface, with icons and text
- Be fully secure and integrate with existing data handling systems
The Process
Our development and design team went through a collaborative design process with the PCC team, including low and high-fidelity prototypes, pathways and beta testing groups across both platforms. At every stage security and accessibility were the primary considerations.
The Results
The app was launched in September 2022 and attracted over 2,000 downloads within the first three months. The majority of users have used the app to report a crime, by linking with the police via their website or an emergency button. Most issues reported through the app in the first three months - 55.1 per cent - related to antisocial behaviour and vehicle nuisance.In 2023, the COPA app has achieved remarkable success with a cumulative download count exceeding 7,500 on both iOS and Android platforms, this substantial user base underscores the ap's impact. Most notably, the app has emerged as a valuable tool in the realm of law enforcement, significantly contributing to successful prosecutions. Its role in streamlining critical processes, facilitating in the collection and organisation of crucial evidence has proven instrumental in supporting legal cases.
Client Feedback
The app was the first of its kind in the UK and continues to be a leader in the field of community relations with local police forces. The dynamic and forward-thinking approach taken by the team in development is evidenced in the project being delivered within budget and addressing every objective, a great example of common-sense problem-solving.
Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner said:
"It has been great to work with Alt Labs on developing a solution that best meets the needs of people in Cleveland.
Their approach started with the problems we were trying to solve - namely widening the options for people to communicate with me and Cleveland Police - and working on what features we needed to solve them.
As the project matured and developed, they kept us up-to-date with their progress and worked efficiently to meet our deadlines. We now have a product to be proud of and which I'm having national conversations about replicating."