Danish gamer cops - 5th July 2023

Police officers in Denmark can be found playing video games like Counter-Strike or on popular online platforms like Twitch, Discord, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Their intention is to create a safer online space for children and adults.

Members of the online patrol unit make themselves visible. They wear their uniforms, just as they would on the streets. They hope users will report any problems or cybercrime.

Officer Jeppe Rimer Torup says they're gaining popularity online.

Jeppe Rimer Torup: "And when we're online, they can see us as police officer wearing the uniform. And then they can, maybe if we, for example, is playing Counter-Strike, we say, hey, we need, we are two officers playing, we need three volunteers from the chat, you can come, come play with us. So slowly, we have been making our, you know, increase in followers. Right now we have around 23,000 followers on Twitch."

The patrol unit's gained thousands of followers with 23,000 on Twitch, 127,000 on TikTok and 6,000 on Instagram. Online officers let young gamers know they're there by messaging them: 'If you want to talk to us or ask questions - we're here'. This has resulted in 5,200 reports of crimes.

There was a rise in online crime during Covid. Young gamers, who were isolated from friends, were most at risk. The online patrol unit was created in 2022.

Head of the unit Sisse Birkebaek gives details.

Sisse Birkebaek: "The criminality is, is going online as well. We see a lot of grooming and trying to harass the youngsters, trying to, to take money from the youngsters, stealing skins in the gaming community as well."

The general public's quite happy with the online patrol unit's efforts to keep the internet safe, reports Birkebaek.

Sisse Birkebaek: "When we tell them about what our main target is, is just to be present and try to, to make it a safer place in the internet, especially for, for youngsters, then they are actually quite happy about it, especially the parents."