Vancouver police are using Second Life as a training ground, recruitment tool, and testbed for exploring future law enforcement issues in virtual worlds.

While much of what they’re doing is basic “been there” stuff (although first report I’ve seen of a police department), what’s interesting are the following comments, as they get to the heart of future police and government jurisdiction issues:

 Beyond just recruiting, he sees a lot of potential for using a virtual, Second Life police force in other capacities — especially since there seems to be exponential growth online.

“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,” he says. “How are we going to deal with them?”

The jurisdictional implications of policing avatars, who are controlled by people from around the world, will need to be ironed out eventually, he says.

“There are jurisdictional issues. Where does the crime occur? Where is the suspect? Where is the victim?” McQuiggin says. “We want accountability but if it’s spread all over the world like that it makes it very difficult for us.”