REGINA, Sask. — Visitors can now step into the role of a crime scene investigator and try authentic forensic equipment at a new interactive exhibit unveiled Wednesday at the RCMP Heritage Centre.
With funding from Tourism Saskatchewan and PrairiesCan, the RCMP Heritage Centre has named the exhibit the “Crime Lab Forensic Experience.” RCMP Heritage Centre CEO Sam Karikas said the point of the new addition is for “visitors to step into the role of an investigator, moving between an investigator's office and a forensic lab.”
While the centre does not want the media to spoil all the details about the exhibit, one piece of forensic equipment it is excited to announce is an authentic digital fingerprint analyzer.
Tourism Saskatchewan CEO Jonathan Potts said the idea for the exhibit came about after the RCMP Heritage Centre took part in one of Tourism Saskatchewan's AWEshop programs — an incentive designed to “create new ways to create new experiences for visitors.” Potts credited the RCMP Heritage Centre with coming up with the “Crime Lab Forensic Experience” idea, which ultimately led Tourism Saskatchewan to invest “$40,000 into that idea to help bring it to life.”
Potts and Karikas expect the exhibit to perform well with the public, especially families with children, who have already shown interest in the hands-on experience.
“Interactive experiences like this are the way of the world when it comes to tourism,” Potts said.
Potts said he was impressed with the RCMP Heritage Centre's initiative in developing the program and hinted at further collaboration, saying there are two more “experiences planned in the future” at the centre that he expects to be “equally exciting.”
