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Web Design for POLICE Departments - Offline

by skorpion
6 replies
I live in a small town and noticed that a lot of the surrounding towns (including mine) do not have websites for their police departments. But the larger towns either have a dedicated website or a backpage off the town website.

I think there may be a market here for the offline niche? Any thoughts on this from other offliners?

Either way, I'm calling the cops tomorrow!
#departments #design #offline #police #web
  • Profile picture of the author optomathematgineer
    I guess there is a reason why the police department do not have a website. They are government body, and they deal with sensitive and important matters. Also whatever they post on the web must be 'correct' in the political sense. If it is the small town police department, they do not have the budget to do it. It is not as simple as just getting a web designer to do the job. They probably have to start a communication department in the police department where they do the web design, decide what content to put on it, make sure the information is correct and secure as the hacker cannot hack into their system, make sure the police data is not by any chance leak to the public, etc. Boy, sound like a mountain of jobs. Thus, simple decision of not having a website is made.

    Please do not be discouraged by me. Please try, and you might prove me wrong. I am just sharing my thought. Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author skorpion
      Originally Posted by optomathematgineer View Post

      I guess there is a reason why the police department do not have a website. They are government body, and they deal with sensitive and important matters. Also whatever they post on the web must be 'correct' in the political sense. If it is the small town police department, they do not have the budget to do it. It is not as simple as just getting a web designer to do the job. They probably have to start a communication department in the police department where they do the web design, decide what content to put on it, make sure the information is correct and secure as the hacker cannot hack into their system, make sure the police data is not by any chance leak to the public, etc. Boy, sound like a mountain of jobs. Thus, simple decision of not having a website is made.

      Please do not be discouraged by me. Please try, and you might prove me wrong. I am just sharing my thought. Thanks.
      Thanks! I was thinking the same thing as you. But then noticed some small towns departments have them. There are even web design companys that apparently only do websites for these small town police departments.

      They are more informative type websites and dont hold much secured data. Just contact info, pictures of the officers and some background info.

      I will be making some calls tomorrow and update here in this thread!
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  • Profile picture of the author AmyBrown
    If you're serious about the niche it would be worth investigating when they do their budgeting and at what dollar value they're required to go through a RFP/RFQ process. My other business involves responding to RFPs and it's a process I'd personally avoid like the plague for any web design or marketing project.
    Signature
    "Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast."
     Tom Peters

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    • Profile picture of the author skorpion
      Originally Posted by AmyBrown View Post

      If you're serious about the niche it would be worth investigating when they do their budgeting and at what dollar value they're required to go through a RFP/RFQ process. My other business involves responding to RFPs and it's a process I'd personally avoid like the plague for any web design or marketing project.
      Ahh yes. Although I dont understand it fully, RFP rings an old bell back when I did architectural design for government agencies. Well, the work I did under the company I worked for.
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  • Profile picture of the author digigo
    definitely a niche worth pursuing... police department needs a good PR too.. they need a public face on the cyberspace.. I will say go for it.. but government at all levels is in tight budget now.. they may need to spent money on more pressing needs like their IT..
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    • Profile picture of the author Croque
      Originally Posted by digigo View Post

      ... government at all levels is in tight budget now.. they may need to spent money on more pressing needs like their IT..
      I agree with you, however this can turn into a great opportunity for someone willing to do it low cost/free. Think about all the good PR this person can get by adding his local PD to his portafolio:


      Yeah, I designed and developed the PD Website


      Boom! instant credibility and authority
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