How am I just now learning about the cops whose job is to play Fortnite?

The Danish Police Online Patrol unit, standing in a line and holding gaming peripherals.
(Image credit: Politiets Online Patrulje)

Did you know that Denmark has a specialised unit of cops whose job is to play online games like Counterstrike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, and Minecraft? Me neither, until I was alerted to the existence (via Reddit) of the Danish Politiets Online Patrulje (Police Online Patrol), a squad of Danish police officers whose job is apparently to "patrol" online social spaces and keep an eye out for things like fraud and hate speech.

The unit maintains a presence on Steam, Discord, and even streams on Twitch, where it was active earlier today. Naturally, it's also active in popular multiplayer games like the ones I mentioned earlier (the squad's player avatars in Minecraft have been customised to resemble a Danish police uniform). They're pretty prolific on TikTok, too.

@onlinepatrulje

♬ original sound - myah

The POP unit actually got started back in April 2022 with a remit to (the following is machine-translated from Danish) "patrol social media," and "engage in dialogue with children and young people in particular, prevent inappropriate behaviour and crime, and intervene if offences are committed".

Denmark isn't alone in this practice. Community police in the Netherlands had a "Gaming with the police" initiative back in 2020, with 21 teams across the country trying to "keep in touch with youth who are active in the digital domain" by "entering their ‘comfort zone’ through gaming". The Dutch police didn't really say how successful that scheme was—which might tell you everything you need to know—but did say "gaming with the youth is well received [...] because it is a means that matches their interests," and "is a contemporary way of connecting". Which definitely sounds like something a cop would write.

Online gaming is an avenue used by extremist groups for recruitment, and the recent case of the ISIS-roleplaying teens in Roblox shows us the kind of bizarre and disturbing stuff that happens hidden away on the internet. But I'm not sure sprinkling a few officers across a handful of servers will really do much to counteract that. Having responsible adults available for kids to turn to when they feel uncomfortable in online games is a good idea, but you probably need more than a few people to make an impact. 

In fact, it might be the case that the police shouldn't be the ones doing it at all. I don't know much about Danish policing, so this could just be my experience as an English person talking, but it's always difficult to shake the feeling that the subtextual motivation of efforts like this isn't really to counteract hate speech or grooming, but to recruit young people to the force while they're impressionable. After all, we live in a world where the US military actively makes efforts to reach kids through videogames like Call of Duty and on platforms like Twitch, so it's hard not to see things through that lens.

Still, whatever its motivations and whether it's effective or not, it's a pointed reminder that, yep, we sure do live in the 21st century. The cops are in Minecraft and running a Discord server as part of what I imagine is one of the cushier jobs down at the station. This is the world we live in now. I couldn't do it, though. Playing videogames for a living? Please.

Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver saluting while wearing an anthropomorphic facemask
The United Nations asked Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead if it'd give a talk on psychological manipulation: ‘Could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? … Would we be okay with that? Turns out, yeah’
A goblin with sharp teeth, wearing goggles, lets out a mischievous cackle in WoW's latest patch: Undermine(d).
The hooligan hacker guild that tore up WoW's newest raid (twice) just posted video evidence of the whole thing, and it's got me feeling weirdly nostalgic
Man celebrates while looking at laptop.
Gaming is a good thing for the workplace, apparently—so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to 'do some extensive training'
Delta Force's operator Luna Kim
Delta Force's Chinese developer says it doesn't 'have an opinion' on the American military and just wants to create 'fun and meaningful gameplay' with its campaign based on the very real Battle of Mogadishu
The Sims 4 - A parent and child sim chat together on the couch
How did your parents limit your game time?
Tencent
Tencent has been designated a Chinese military company by the US Department of Defense, which the conglomerate calls a 'misunderstanding'
Latest in Survival & Crafting
New shaders in Minecraft following Minecraft Live 2025
In the year of our lord 2025, Mojang is finally adding shaders to Minecraft, making reflective lighting and water effects more accessible for all
A dried ghast, a ghastling, and a friendly ghast all smiling
The latest Minecraft Live uncovered the tragic truth of the Nether's most bothersome mob, which has unlocked new levels of guilt
Three mobs in their regional forms in Minecraft Spring to Life update
Minecraft Spring to Life update: everything you need to know about the newest drop
Sci-fi character from Dune
Dune: Awakening promises us a breath of fresh air, skipping early access for a full launch with no monthly subscription in May
A shirtless man rides a big fish underwater
Ark devs distance themselves from AI-generated trailer: 'we did not know that they were doing it'
Two airships fire broadsides into each other's hull in Echoes of Elysium.
In this airship-building survival game, I faced an enemy worth punching trees over: 'The hubris of man'
Latest in News
Several adventurers in World of Warcraft Classic's hardcore server crying over the death of a fallen comrade.
Blizzard plans to revive WoW Classic Hardcore characters 'at our sole discretion', after DDOS attack puts major streamer guild OnlyFangs in the ground
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is a hit and Steam played a 'significant role' in that: 27% of activations were on PC and it's the 2nd-biggest AC launch of all time
Typing on internet search toolbar: What am I doing?
How a Microsoft exec managed to pitch Microsoft Word through the genius tactic of being able to actually use it in a 'type-off' demanded by clients: 'I was the only one who'd actually been a secretary'
The outlast trials setting
'You just have to make them think this world is real, and this world can hurt you': The Outlast Trials devs discuss a changing horror genre and an insatiable need for scares
Half-Life wallpaper - Gordon Freeman
Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box
America to the rescue
US pressures Malaysia to stop banned AI chips potentially entering China by monitoring 'every shipment that comes to Malaysia when it involves Nvidia chips'