West Midlands police are using photographs of police dog puppies to appeal to young people on Facebook.

The police pups join a growing number of officers who are using social networking websites as a way of engaging with teenagers.

The new web page features information about staying safe on dark winter evenings, alongside intelligence about wanted criminals, advice about crime prevention and photo albums such as “Police Puppies”, which calls for dog walkers to help raise the cutest members of the law-enforcement team.

Mark Payne, Chief Inspector of the force, said: “It’s very important to us that young people have a means of talking to the police, expressing their views. Older people are very good at this. Young people need to have a place for expression and this is a medium they are comfortable with.”

He said that he hoped the pages would become a forum where people could discuss “things we do well and things we could do better, and problems and issues young people are having.”

More than 300 Facebookers have joined the group since it was created last week. Fans of the page will receive regular updates and crime alerts.

The Facebook presence is part of an online strategy recommended by public relations advisers and focus groups to improve communication with teens. Earlier this year, the West Midlands Police went live on YouTube.

The force's YouTube page includes a video called Tooled up for School in which a young man sings, “I hope you’re tooled up in your mind and not carrying weaponry.” Prisoner Eye View, which offers insight into how it might feel to be arrested, has been watched 440 times in the two weeks since it was posted.

“We mixed videos where we talk about crime prevention and how to keep people safe," Chief Inspector Payne said. "To draw people into the site, we put videos on there of police pursuits and police operations, things people are interested in. So it’s a win-win.

“I think that most people, young or old, will generally only come into contact with police when they are in need of help. We are trying to allow people to influence us before they even get to that stage.”

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming