New Website Seeks to Improve Police-Community Relations

Ashburn, Virginia (March 20, 2017) – When cell phone footage of "alleged" police brutality surfaces on the internet, the public often responds in 1-of-3 ways. We either, (1) Blame or stereotype the victim; (2) Condemn the police; or (3) Criticize the lack of communication between the two.

While it may be difficult to eliminate all of our personal biases, some of which lead us to blame and stereotype each other unjustifiably, we can (and should) however, be on the lookout for more effective methods of communication.

Last year, Ashburn resident Edward Street, launched a new website designed to encourage productive communication between police departments and the communities they serve. The website, Peer Observation & Productive Outreach, also known as PoPoSearch.com, invites its visitors to explore the site's interactive map and directory, locate police departments, and write honest reviews.

“Imagine a Yelp-like platform, but for police departments,” says Street. “People use our website to initiate and engage in conversations about community policing in their own neighborhood.”

Similar to Yelp, where business owners “claim” their own business page and interact with reviewers, Peer Observation & Productive Outreach invites police departments to "claim" their own profile page. When a page is claimed, the police department can respond to its reviewers, post public safety announcements, or upload photos.

"Once upon a time, communities had 'beat police.' They patrolled neighborhoods on foot, and were required to communicate with the people in that area. I'm confident that with today's technology, we can use the internet to reestablish those healthy and productive police-community relationships," says Street.

To date, the Leesburg Police Department and Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, have the highest ratings in the Northern Virginia area, according to PoPoSearch.com.