Interpol as the first police of the metaverse

The International Criminal Police Organization, better known by its English acronym Interpol, is reaching out to virtual universes to expand its range of universal surveillance.

Interpol presented the idea in a brief for the introduction of the police in the metaverse. This idea will offer a virtual place of immersive training for agents from all over the planet, while seeking to address the new types of crimes that the metaverse can bring and provide stability to the new spaces of human relationship.

Without geographical or physical parameters, the metaverse will allow agents to tour a virtual facsimile of the Interpol General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France, according to the report.

Interpol launches its own metaverse

It is anticipated that the metaverse will be the next phase of the development of the internet, in fact the technology firm Gartner predicts that in 4 years, one in 4 people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse to work, learn, trade or socialize.

Interpol detailed a list of probable crimes that they have the possibility of committing in the new spaces, integrated:

• Delitos contra chicos
• Robos de datos 
• Lavado de dinero
• Fraude financiero 
• Falseamiento 
• Ransomware
• Phishing 
• Acometida y acoso sexual 

He added that this can pose challenges because not all acts that are criminalized on the physical planet are considered crimes on the virtual planet. “We may be entering a new world, but our commitment is still the same,” said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock, adding:

​​“benefit our own member territories to fight crime and make the planet, virtual or not, safer for those who inhabit it.”

Police control in virtual universes

But beyond combating new virtual crimes, Interpol’s metaverse has a primary educational focus, at least in its early stages. In a live demonstration, the police organization taught several of the benefits and modalities of immersive and remote training in a course on travel document verification and passenger screening in which it virtually transported users to an airport.

Interpol is the first universal police outfit to dive into the metaverse craze.