A CREATIVE arts company and West Midlands Police and the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner are to launch a new interactive virtual reality film that aims to help tackle knife crime.
Working with police officers, the award winning Round Midnight has made a new educational virtual reality programme that allows viewers to make decisions about knives that determine how the story ends.
The film, which is called ‘Virtual_Decisions: KNIVES’, and the virtual reality equipment has been funded by West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and the Home Office.
The educational tool will help illustrate the consequences of the decisions young people may be forced to make when it comes to knives.
Knife crime has more than doubled since 2012 in the West Midlands.
The new film about knives follows the success of Round Midnight’s previous film about gang culture and criminal exploitation called ‘Virtual_Decisions: GANGS’.
The new film explores the reasons why many young people carry a weapon and what the consequences might be.
Once the participants have completed the 11-minute film, they then take part in a creative workshop that explores their decisions and the consequences of their actions, allowing for an open and honest discussion.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, said: “This is a really innovative project that I hope will appeal to young people.
“Knife crime has been rising across the country for around 10 years and I hope schemes like this can capture their imagination and help reverse the trend.
“We have to make it clear to all young people that they have a choice and that carrying a knife makes it more likely, not less, that they will be hurt.
“The money I have used to help fund this project is proceeds of crime that has been seized from criminals.”
