Pelipoliisi (Gaming police)

The project will produce a concept for preventing and combating crime in gaming communities and gaming platforms. The project will compile both research data as well as experiences and observations from international cooperation and the local pilot. Based on these, a concept and a “manual” with guidelines will be produced for how the police can, together with other public authorities, organizations and business operators, act in gaming communities and on gaming platforms. 

The project will also develop the multi-professional Anchor work and supplement it with a new operating model. A further aim is to prevent juveniles from becoming involved in cyber crime and being recruited into criminal networks that are active on gaming platforms and forums.

The aim is to: 

• make the authorities better available and accessible in forums where many young people spend their time
• build trust with young people at risk of social exclusion and suffering from gaming addiction, detrimental in terms of life management
• detect and prevent crime on digital gaming forums and other harmful activities that pose a risk to young people’s health and safety
• seek to identify and reach, better than before, young people who benefit from multi-professional Anchor activities.

Timescale: August 2023 – July 2024

Project partners: National Bureau of Investigation and Ostrobothnia Police Department. The team responsible for project implementation participates in the international parallel project Joint Preventive Gaming, carried out within the framework of the EMPACT cooperation (European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats) and funded by the EU. 

Funding: Ministry of the Interior, approximately EUR 91,000 in total.

Contact persons at Police University College: Pirjo Jukarainen, Project Manager, Researcher and Senior Constable Daniel Kalejaiye. Research team members include Jutta Saikkonen, Specialist, Communications and Tuire Salmi-Hiltunen, Senior Planning Officer. Email in the format [email protected].