INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, along with the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation and the Central Indiana Police Foundation, unveiled a new community engagement video gaming trailer Thursday. Equipped with video games and comfy couches, it is another tool to help officers build connections in a welcoming space in neighborhoods throughout Indianapolis.

“I feel like this is a barrier breaker and we’re able to bring this trailer into communities that may or may not have as much interaction with the police,” said Lt. Allen Tuttle with IMPD’s Community Engagement and Outreach Bureau.

Tuttle said he hopes the trailer will help extend IMPD’s reach into communities across the city and connect with youth the department previously missed.

“We’ve missed the mark on connecting with a lot of age groups of the youth in our community,” Tuttle said. “We feel like this will fill in a gap that we’ve previously had with kids.”

Thursday’s unveiling was nearly two years in the making for IMPD, made possible through a $100,000 Legacy Impact Grant from the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation.

“It’s being different how we’re connecting children these days with those people who live to serve and protect us, right?” said Erin Smith, president of the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation. “So, we just felt like this was a great opportunity to be innovative.”

Kids like Camilla Coleman, 8, were invited to try out the trailer.

“It’s like fun and joyful,” Camilla said. “And you get to have a lot of fun where people are around you.”

To bring a bit of work to the play, IMPD plans to play educational videos covering a variety of topics to provoke conversations in a safe space. But, IMPD’s main objective with the trailer is to build lasting trust with the kids they serve.

“This gives them that excuse to say, ‘It’s ok to hang out with the police,’ right? And it allows us to make these new connections and these new relationships,” Tuttle said.

IMPD said it plans to have the trailer at district community days and plans to partner with schools throughout the city.