Hi! I'm a researcher doing work around modern slavery and human trafficking. Sometimes i do work on other crime and security issues too.
With AEsOP (Applied Engagement for Community Particpation) we set out with the intention of developing an educational game to raise awareness of community policing within communities. AEsOP provides the user with twelve scenarios, each of which focuses on a different type of criminality. The game puts the user in the shoes of various community actors, including the police, allowing them to play through a range of interactive stories with branching decision paths to reveal how various types of citizen and community participation can help prevent and reduce the impact of local crime issues. The game uses mechanics borrowed from the 2D adventure game genre and the narrative storytelling approach used in ‘TellTale’ style adventure games. Making use of rich hand-illustrated art, we hope to ensure AEsOP is approachable and suitable for all. AEsOP will be free and available to play online through a web-browser and via the iOS and Android App stores.
For this project, I took overall responsibility for the design of the game itself, running a number of co-design workshops with community engagement practitioners to ensure its alignment with real-world needs. I also wrote and designed each of the games scenarios, making sure the issues realised in the game are indicative of true to life community issues. We hope to have the game completed in Q1 2018, at which point I would like to trial its use as an education and research tool with community groups and schools in raising awareness of local policing issues and avenues for citizen engagement.