Amazon's Alexa joins Dorset Police

Through the new Flash Briefing skill for Amazon Alexa, the public can now access free daily updates with the latest news and appeals delivered straight from the force’s media office into their home.

The briefings include witness appeals, missing people appeals, investigation results, court updates, crime prevention advice and information about Dorset Police’s performance.

Dorset Police says the Alexa voice service, which can be accessed through an Amazon Echo smart speaker and other Alexa-enabled devices, gives users the opportunity to create a tailored experience in relation to many areas, including news bulletins.

Chief Constable James Vaughan said: “We are always keen to embrace new technology and so far only a few police forces offer this way of keeping up to date with what is going on in the local area. It is very exciting that we are now one of them.

“Connecting with as many people in Dorset as possible is very important to us and the Alexa voice service offers a very convenient and direct way to quickly access an overview of our work.

“Different groups of our community want to receive information through vastly diverse methods and this is an addition to more traditional channels, such as our website, social media channels, Dorset Alert and reports in the media.

“Many of our releases are appeals for help from the public. By enabling the Dorset Police Flash Briefing skill for Amazon Alexa, not only do you get an insight into the complex and varied work our officers and staff do, you can also quickly get involved in helping us solve crime or find vulnerable missing people.”