Almost 74,000 people have tuned in to watch a live stream of Sussex Police at work, in a social media experiment set up by the local force. 

The Sussex Police People: Live stream, which started on Friday, is only available to viewers on mobile phones, computers, and the free live viseo streaming app Bambuser. The idea is to show the public what policing is really like and what Police officers do. 

The stream attracted 73,959 views, with watching time totalling 2,549 hours. 5,321 web-chat messages were received, while edited highlights received 4,624 views on YouTube. British viewers made up 71 per cent of the audience, with the broadcast viewed in over 36 countries. 

The Police also received 477 tweets at the @sussex_police Twitter account.

“Were really excited to see how the Sussex Police is pioneering the way public authorities engage in social communication and provide total transparency to its community,” says Bambuser executive chairman Hans Eriksson. “The interest and viewership has exceeded our expectations and we hope the success will encourage more initiatives like this from within the public sector.”

Sussex Police chief constable Martin Richards says the stream helps to address the difficulty of showing people what policing is like, and gives the public a new way to get in touch with the Police.

“This experience has shown that our commitment to transparency and our desire to provide new ways to keep in touch is something the public really wants,” he says. “Sussex Police People will continue into the future and were also considering other ways we could use live streaming to improve the way we work with our communities.”