July 2nd, 2007
Canadian cops recruit in Second Life
Last month, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) held a recruitment seminar in Second Life. Yes, you read that right: recruiting law enforcement officers through a virtual world. The idea, the VPD said, was to target a generation who are extremely web-savvy. If they are early adopters venturing into a virtual world, then they must know a thing or two about new technology and how to operate efficiently online.
Like so many new initiative in Second Life, this one feels like a rather expensive PR exercise, designed to cash on the virtual world’s hype. However, further into The Vancouver Sun’s report, are a number of telling quotes from Inspector Kevin McQuiggin, head of the police department’s tech crimes division, which suggest that the exercise may actually have more merit — in the longer term, at least.
Almost every major crime involves technology in some way, says McQuiggin, citing Internet and technology-related crimes such as fraud and harassment. And these types of criminal activity are finding their ways into virtual worlds:
“Any new media that comes out, any new form of communication, crime is going to migrate there.”
“It’s going to be interesting when we start to receive crime reports — you know, harassment cases or things like that — in the virtual world.”
“How are we going to deal with them?”
A major headache for any nation’s jurisdictional system will be the issue of policing avatars, who are controlled by people from around the world:
“Where does the crime occur? Where is the suspect? Where is the victim? We want accountability but if it’s spread all over the world like that it makes it very difficult for us.”
This may all seem way off into the future, but every emerging technology has the potential to stretch the boundaries of the law, and virtual world like Second Life are no different.
Loading ...Related post: Second Life child pornography investigation AND FBI visits Second Life AND How long before the law enters Second Life?
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
