The website www.ionbucks.info displays the levels of some of the key crime types that are dealt with by the Buckinghamshire Community Safety Partnership. It provides interactive maps showing the crime hotspots at district level and crime information down to neighbourhood level.

The site uses the same neighbourhood policing areas as Thames Valley Police for consistency across the partnership. This also makes it easier for residents to get to know their neighbourhoods.

www.ionbucks.info is the first public website to display crime and community safety information by using hotspot maps and by providing summary crime figures at postcode level. Hotspot maps are a lot like weather maps as they use the information around an area to show where the temperature (or crime figures in this instance) is higher, when compared to other areas. Research has found that people prefer to see mapped information in this way.

At the moment, the website displays data by graph, table and map. There is a link from each neighbourhood summary page directly to the same neighbourhood within the Thames Valley Police website so that users can find out more about their neighbourhood, what's happening and how to get involved.

Over the next few weeks, more will be added to this newly published website including relevant links and documents. Following that, there will be additional opportunities to provide feedback, not just about the website, but about residents' own concerns around crime and disorder.

Bill Chapple, Deputy Leader of the County Council, commented "The launch of I:on Bucks is a tribute to the benefits of working with our partners. This website will become a critical tool for making the neighbourhoods of Buckinghamshire an even safer place to live, work and visit."

Paul Tinnion as the Buckinghamshire Police Commander and Chair of the Safer Bucks Partnership Board said, "Police forces have mapped crimes for many years to help them tackle problems and target staff to those problems. The launch of I:on Bucks provides community-focussed information right down to a local level and allows the community to view local crime information where they live and work."

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Bryan Dugdale of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service said: "This initiative will help everyone share our information resources and make even better use of them. We are pleased to be hosting the analytical team, which consists of people from around the partnership working together in the truest sense."

Click HERE to visit the website.

Every library in Buckinghamshire provides easy computer and internet access. Some libraries provide free Wi-Fi connection. For details visit the Buckinghamshire County Council website.