PrintUse of cookies
To make this site secure, useful, and easy to use, we sometime place small data files on your computer or mobile phone. These data files are known as cookies. Most other commercial and Government websites do this too. We use cookies to help us:
- Remember the information you have already typed in, so you don't need to keep re-entering it.
- Make the site more secure and protect it against attacks.
- Measure how you use the website so we can make sure it is useful and meeting your needs.
- Provide you with information from relevant third-parties like Twitter, and to let you give feedback about the site or any problems you have.
Our cookies are not used to identify you personally. They contain non-identifiable information only, in most cases just a string of randomly generated numbers and letters. You are free to manage and delete these cookies as you wish.
You can learn more about cookies and how to manage them from GOV.UK: How government websites use cookies and About Cookies: how to control cookies. A short video about how Government websites use cookies is also provided below.
Remembering information
| Name | Content and Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| AWSELB | Randomly generated numbers and letters, used to help us direct you to the correct web server | 30 minutes |
| sessionid | Randomly generated numbers and letters, used to help us remember what you've typed in and what language you want to browse the site in | When you close your browser |
Security
| Name | Content and Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| csrftoken | Randomly generated numbers and letters, used to help prevent Cross-site Request Forgery attacks | 1 year |
Measuring website usage
We use Google Analytics to collect information about how people use this site. For example, what you click on, how long you spend on the site and how you got here. We do this to make sure the site is meeting its users’ needs and to understand how we can improve it. This information cannot be used to identify who you are. We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data.
| Name | Content and Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _utma | Randomly generated number | 2 years |
| _utmb | Randomly generated number | 30 minutes |
| _utmc | Randomly generated number | When you close your browser |
| _utmz | Randomly generated number and information about how the site was reached | 6 months |
Third parties
| Source | Name | Content and Description | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| twitter.com | k | Randomly generated number, used to help display a twitter feed from the relevant police force | 1 week |
| twitter.com | guest_if | Randomly generated number, used to help display a twitter feed from the relevant police force | 2 years |
