Edinburgh Cops See Value in Games
Cops and kids enjoying video games together?
It's true.
According to EuroGamer, police in the Moredun section of Edinburgh, Scotland are hosting weekly PlayStation 2 tournaments in a local library. At the events, bobbies compete against 13 and 14-year-olds at Gran Turismo 3, Tiger Woods Golf and Pro Evolution Soccer. Prizes are awarded.
Since the program began, police have noticed a 50% drop in youth-related crime. They plan to hold more competitions citywide
PC Rod Robinson, the organizer of the competition, said: "Basically, they had nothing to do so there was nuisance and rowdiness which led to a lot of calls. We told the children they had to behave or they would be banned from the contest. That really seemed to work. It took them 15 attempts to beat me at Gran Turismo but they thrashed me at the football. They were always telling me they would beat me next week. It showed them we're not just cops in uniforms."
A tip o' GP's cap to readers Mark K. and DownwardSpiral for letting us know about this one.