New online crime maps for England and Wales have been launched, allowing users to see which offences have been reported in their local streets.
Home Secretary Theresa May said the maps would give real facts and make police more accountable.
The public can search for information on crime and anti-social behaviour by entering a street name or postcode.
Some people have had problems accessing the website, www.police.uk. A minister said there had been heavy use.
Policing Minister Nick Herbert told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the website had been receiving 75,000 hits per minute.
A spokesman for charity Victim Support said it was important that victims of crime had consented as to whether information about their incident was released.
Meanwhile, Mrs May said she expected the public reaction to be positive and denied the information could increase fear or drive down house prices in some areas.
Visitors to the website, which cost £300,000 to develop, will be able to find out which crimes have taken place on or near their street within the past month and which officers are responsible for their area.
Information on crime is broken down into six categories - burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violence, other crime and anti-social behaviour. Sex crimes have been included in the "other" category, along with crimes such as theft and shoplifting, to help prevent victims from being identified.
Local police appeals and details of police community meetings will also be published alongside the maps.
The website provides more detail, down to street-level, than existing online crime maps provided by forces in England and Wales.
Crime trends will also be established as the site develops and could be extended to include details on the outcomes of court cases, or a system for individual victims to track the progress of their case online.
The site show more than 6,500 incidents of anti-social behaviour were recorded by police in England and Wales every day in December.