Chicago defense attorney's 'Trials & Triumph' board game helps teens with police interactions
CHICAGO -- Trials & Triumph' is a board game that teaches teens and adults how to safely interact with police created by Chicago criminal defense attorney April Preyar.
"Parents don't realize the power of a veteran cop sitting and grilling their 15- or 16-year-old child. And so, the purpose of the game is to teach teens and adults how to interact safely with police, how to avoid the criminal justice system all together and how to make it home safely," she said.
The game is similar to board games many grew up playing as children, such as 'Monopoly' and 'Life'.
"The best part is because it's interactive, it forces players who normally would have their heads in their cell phones to actually have a conversation with one another," said Preyar.
The game uses real life scenarios that were taken from the news or from cases Preyar has worked on.
"There are 54 different scenarios and they are all police contacts," she explained.
Derrick Spencer is the parents of two teenagers and plays the game with his family regularly.
"They were real situations that can occur and to be able to discuss that with them in a safe environment is great for us" he said.
According to Preyar, kids retain information better when playing, and after only 20 minutes they can walk away with lessons they'll remember for life.
"I hope to end false confessions. I hope to end police involved killings on the side of the road. I hope to decrease the number of arrests all together between 17-year-olds and 25-year-olds and I think that the more the game spreads, the more people play it even one time, that those are very realistic goals," said Preyar.
