After writing on Monday about the local police getting pubs closed down onnothing more than their say so, I was interested today to see a large amount of hits for that post in the stats coming from sypscout.co.uk.

If you visit there you will see a strangely anonymous collection of media stories which all mention the particular police force.

Anonymous in that there is no contact, copyright or other indication as to whether it’s an official site at all – nothing except a log in box and news stories.

Below are the article on the nest and a screengrab of sypscout.co.uk

Could the heading “what we’ve been saying” suggest it’s an official site? And, if it is, then why is it not branded as it would be using public funds?

Perhaps, if one were of a paranoid nature, it could be suggested that the site in question is being used as a shot across the bows of anyone writing about the particular police force. Sort of along the lines of “Big brother is watching you”.

I don’t subscribe (yet) to that line of thinking so I will say good evening to the officers following the link!

2 Comments

  1. vapsik

    Thanks Bill – I assumed it would be theirs but hadn’t looked further.

    Interesting that they have made it completely anonymous by design even though us poor buggers are paying for it.

  2. Bill

    It’s a South Yorkshire Police news aggregater site. But I’m sure you realised this.
    Coppers wasting taxpayers money on PR instead of solving crime. Very 21st Century!

    Domain name:
    sypscout.co.uk

    Registrant:
    south yorkshire police

    Domain name:
    sypscout.co.uk

    Registrant:
    south yorkshire police

    Registrant type:
    UK Individual

    Registrant’s address:
    snig hill
    sheffield
    south yorkshire
    S3 8LY
    United Kingdom

    Registrar:
    Webfusion Ltd t/a 123-Reg.co.uk [Tag = 123-REG]
    URL: http://www.123-reg.co.uk

    Relevant dates:
    Registered on: 19-Aug-2010
    Renewal date: 19-Aug-2012
    Last updated: 19-Aug-2010

    Registration status:
    Registered until renewal date.

    Name servers:
    ns.123-reg.co.uk
    ns2.123-reg.co.uk