Joining the police force is an honorable thing to do, but how many people actually qualify to be part of the force considering their less than healthy lifestyle of just sitting in front of the computer/TV while munching on a bag of chips with a can of beer in hand? For overweight folks or those who have failed the fitness test, there is still hope offered in the form of a virtual police recruitment center on the wildly successful online game, Second Life. The Vancouver Police Department partly justifies their stand in recruiting virtual police officers by claiming that crimes are constantly migrating over to new forms of media, with the Internet being its focus this time.

According to the Vancouver Police Department, they hope to attract real-life people behind the avatars via online seminars, and even if the real life person lives a continent or two away, their application will still be considered. Besides, the presence of men and women in blue is said to reduce potential online crimes such as harassment cases and the ilk.

I think this is taking things a wee bit too far, since the more serious online crimes such as phishing and identity theft are far more important to deal with when compared to something as trivial as a stolen handbag in Second Life. Is this just a passing phase, or will more and more corporations and bodies hop onto the Second Life bandwagon by virtualizing their operations in order to penetrate and open new markets? Only time will tell, but I think this is just an exercise in futility where the resources could have been used in a better manner elsewhere, such as, you know – real life recruitment?

Source: Kotaku

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