I've had reason to correspond with British police forces on several occasions. There are many transnational matters of diplomacy, law enforcement, citizenship, sport, tourism, hiring, migration, security, and trade for which police clearance and input may be (sometimes must be) sought, or notification given, and this disrupts all of them: websites are a starting point for interaction, documentation, and communication, and it's a massive burden if you're forced back to calling up folks at your UK offices (or worse, the high commission) just to start a conversation each time, let alone work through a process.