POLKA - Online Collaboration


POLKA is a secure online space for the policing community to share insights, discover ideas and suggest new ways of working.

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What is POLKA?

The Police OnLine Knowledge Area (POLKA) is a RESTRICTED online collaboration tool that uses Web 2.0 principles to enable knowledge and information sharing across the police service.

POLKA can be accessed via the Police National Network (PNN) and selected Government Secure intranet (GSi) networks.

How do I register for POLKA?

PNN users can self-register using their PNN email address at https://polka.pnn.police.uk

Selected GSi networks have access to POLKA. If you are a GSi user, you will need to complete an application form before you can access POLKA; for more information and to download the application form, please visit https://polka.pnn.police.uk/gsi

How do I use POLKA?

Activity in POLKA is community-based. All the content is user-generated, meaning that every POLKA user has something to offer. Communities are a space for people with common interests to come together, using tools such as the discussion forum to develop ideas and learn from each other. POLKA communities rely on contributions from members to remain interesting and active - so next time you visit a community, why not take part and help your community to grow?

To get started on POLKA, log in at https://polka.pnn.police.uk. (You will need to register first - see above.) Then you can use our Quick Start Guide to:

  • Join communities. POLKA only shows you information from Open communities and from Private communities that you have joined. If you're interested in a community, you'll need to join that community to see the content.
  • Add contacts. Build your professional network by networking on POLKA.
  • Get involved! Help POLKA to grow by contributing. You could start by replying to a discussion, uploading a document or writing a blog - give it a go!

Communities on POLKA

There are a wide range of communities on POLKA, all of which are owned and managed by relevant practitioners. The most popular communities include:

  • Learning to POLKA
  • Knowledge Bank
  • Service Delivery and Business Transformation
  • IMPACT: PND Implementation
  • Police Gazette
  • Uniformed Operational Support - Public Order
  • Uniformed Operational Support - Firearms
  • Criminal Intelligence Analysis
  • ACPO Police Dogs
  • Penalty Notice Processing (PentiP)
  • Learning and Development Practitioners
  • Custody
  • Police Driver Training
  • PNC

Once you've logged in to POLKA, you can join communities by:

  • going to Communities > All Communities
  • browsing or searching through the communities
  • selecting 'Join Community' or 'Request Registration' for your chosen communities.

You'll then be kept up to date with all the latest activity in those communities via the Daily POLKA Community News Feed email. If you don't want to receive these emails, you can opt out by selecting 'Unsubscribe from community email' on each of your community's homepages.

What's new?

Users can now benefit from an upgraded version of POLKA (v3.1), launched in April 2012. Key improvements and benefits of this more user-friendly version include:

  • a new navigation bar offering quicker access to more areas of POLKA
  • condensed community tabs enabling you to access active areas of communities more easily
  • more space to view content on the screen.

Activity on POLKA

Activity on POLKA has grown extensively in the past two years. More than 90 organisations now have access, including all 43 police forces. Every month on average, there are now more than:

  • 400 new discussions
  • 1,000 discussion comments
  • 70,000 discussion views
  • 800 documents uploaded
  • 40,000 documents downloaded

More information

For more information or support, please see:

If you require further assistance, please contact: