Time spent online and that criminals have always been quick to exploit technology ‘has resulted in an unprecedented surge in online crime’, according to a document by the European Union (EU) agency Europol.
In virtual worlds, community policing equivalents to the physical world are often in their infancy or, in many places, simply do not exist, says the EU agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation. Virtual communities are taking the place of previously physical communities, and ‘the very concept of community policing is struggling with relevance’ as citizens live through virtual connections, according to a ‘concept paper’ by the European Clearing Board’s Strategic Group on Online Policing. It calls for an online presence thereby ‘offering safety and protection from online crime as effectively as it does from traditional offline crime, thus countering the notion that the internet is a lawless space’.
Internet-based policing for combating cybercrime, countering online radicalisation and terrorism, and fighting the spread of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), money laundering and many other types of online crime, are already established, the paper argues. It acknowledges that police have accounts on social media such as Twitter/X or Instagram ‘where citizens can receive up-to-date information or engage with the police’.
The paper quotes the National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) of Norway (‘Norwegian police has actively patrolled Discord, Reddit, Omegle and Telegram, as well as Facebook groups with a local scope’ and ‘Minecraft, Roblox, FIFA, Fortnite, League of Legends and Counter-Strike’); the Danish ‘Online Police Patrol’ (a unit of ten); ‘Virtual Community Policing’ in Estonia; and Polish Police accounts on social media such as Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Threads. An initial pilot involving only a few officers, ideally digitally literate and with social media and/or gaming experience, could grow into an entirely new and relevant police service portfolio, the paper suggests. It points out that it’s ‘important for an online policing unit to have usernames, profile pictures, cover pictures and other noticeable features on all their profiles, so that the public recognises the unit as the police’.
For the 20-page publication, visit the Europol website.
