Interpol Comes to the Metaverse

A lawless virtual universe will not be tolerated...

Interpol in the Metaverse

With companies and individuals going into Metaverse, Interpol doesn’t want to be left behind, so it’s launching the “Metaverse for police” to signal a “lawless virtual universe will not be tolerated.”

The Interpol Metaverse is reportedly “fully operational” and available from the international police force’s cloud service.

Once in, police officers from all over the world can visit a virtual version of the organization’s headquarters in Lyon, France; interact with other cops’ avatars; and take training courses, such as forensic investigations.

“The Metaverse has the potential to transform every aspect of our daily lives with enormous implications for law enforcement,” Madan Oberoi, Interpol’s executive director of technology and innovation, said in a statement. “In order for police to understand the Metaverse, we need to experience it.”

In other words, the global police force is taking an interest in patrolling or probing the metaverse so that when some crime happens in the virtual world – they will be able to react accordingly. To that end, Interpol has formed an “expert group [to] represent the concerns of law enforcement on the global stage” and ensure VR land is “secure by design.”

The idea of police-verse was unveiled at the 90th Interpol General Assembly, held in New Delhi, India. Their thinking is solid — as more people start using Metaverse technology, crime and issues will follow.

“By identifying these risks from the outset, we can work with stakeholders to shape the necessary governance frameworks and cut off future criminal markets before they are fully formed,” Oberoi said. “Only by having these conversations now can we build an effective response.”

On the other hand, Interpol also had words of praise for Metaverse, saying it enables remote networking, training, and “collecting and preserving evidence from crime scenes.”

And, obviously, Interpol is not the only one interested in adding some governance to the nascent space/market. Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum launched an initiative with Microsoft, Meta, and others to govern the Metaverse.

So, this is still a developing story and we’ll make sure to add newsworthy bits as soon as we get them. Stay tuned in the meantime, k?