27 Station Road is an interactive crime scene by West Midlands Police for raising home security and anti-burglary awareness among residents. Between September 24 and January 6 the microsite had 40,984 page views, with visitors spending an average of around three minutes exploring it. The force’s general crime prevention pages on their main website has seen a resultant increase in visitors.
The 360 degree interactive house – pictured is the first scene – was built using Sutton Coldfield based agency WAA Chosen and part-sponsored by Secured by Design (SbD), the national police crime prevention initiative. Users play the role of police called to the scene of a burglary at the everyday property. Exploring the house uncovers clues about how the burglar broke in – and what the householder could have done to keep them out.
Programmers worked with reformed burglar Michael Fraser, who has appeared on BBC’s Beat the Burglar series, on the game to make the challenge as realistic as possible and provide crime prevention pointers.
West Midlands Police Designing Out Crime manager, Mark Silvester, said: “We wanted to create an online product that could reach out to a wider audience rather than having a single physical location. The immersive experience provided by WAA Chosen and our own creative team allows us to host 27 Station Road on Desktop, Mobile and through VR, raising awareness with people on how to prevent themselves becoming the victim of burglary.
“Our Neighbourhood Police Teams will be able to take 27 Station Road on the road, to community and engagement events. Using the videos presented by Michael Fraser also links in with our social media channels for awareness campaigns we’ll be running throughout the year.
“Looking at the number of visitors to the site just days after the launch, we are able see that we are getting the key messages in respect of burglary prevention out there in a variety of forms. 27 Station Road has proven to be a great success.”
Visit https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/27stationroad.
