Note: Thoughts and opinions are my own, not of any publication under Cygnus Law Enforcement Media ... yada yada yada. These aren't endorsements and are for entertainment and informational purposes alone.
Earlier this week (April 6 to 12), a law enforcement officer from Las Vegas Metro called introducing me to his Kickstarter campaign. I'd be amiss to not give a few details - see above. The project is a pack for "running", "biking", and/or "hiking". It straps around you and is held at your chest. It's not exactly what I'd call traditional duty gear, nor is it meant to be.
What else is currently on Kickstarter? Are there any projects for law enforcement? The site isn't set up to search by a creator's day job so I went on a clicking marathon. In no apparent order, I'll share five that caught my interest.
Five Projects for Law Enforcement or Police (a subjective list)
- Books and Story Collections. The first thing that stood out are the number of projects to collect stories from police officers. It seems to be either a historical look at one case or a collection of a few, there's obviously an interest in what goes on during the day and night behind the badge. What's intriguing is there are more successful fictional projects than reality, i.e. graphic novels. (I bet you an episode of Law & Order is on being re-run right now somewhere.)
- Art. Funded mid-2012, Convert a Police Station into an Art Center turned an abandoned police station in Detroit into a community building. The Hatch Gallery exemplifies a creative way to try and revitalize a struggling city, turning a once useful building into something useful again. My opinion is that a pile of rubble isn't really all that great. It would be cool if they'd feature art by cops though.
- Games. There are a good number of game projects on Kickstarter. Some of them put you and some friends in the shoes of a police officer to try and figure out a puzzle. Truth is I haven't played, let alone heard of, any that I've found. The more successful ones are BOARD games getting noses away from the glowing screen. Why more board than video? Maybe because a board game is cheaper? I can't make that call. One thought I like is a board game puts a positive light on law enforcement. FPS video game shooters tend to focus more on the violence and less on the problem solving of the job. It's all perspective perhaps? I do still enjoy Clue.
- A robotics kit. This didn't get funded, but I appreciated the intent. It would have been a self-balancing vehicle - IKEA style. Hopefully the instructions would make more sense than a happy dude pointing to a screwdriver. I found the educational side interesting.
- This children's book didn't get funded either. It meant to teach kids forensics and a bit about police work in a fun way. The creator wears a badge in his photo and offers his website. You'll find his idea took hold through, what I can only guess, Amazon's self-publishing service. "Officer Dan" (the story's character) even has a few corporate sponsors. His site provides links to how you can read to your kids on
theiryour Kindle.
As always, thanks for reading. Stay safe out there.
