Norwegian Police Service
Norwegian Police Service Politi- og lensmannsetaten | |
---|---|
Emilie Enger Mehl, Minister of Justice and Public Security | |
Agency executive |
|
Parent agency | Ministry of Justice and Public Security |
National units | List
|
Police districts | 12 |
Facilities | |
Stations | 66 |
Sheriff's offices | 301 |
Helicopters | 3 AgustaWestland AW169 |
Website | |
politi.no |
The Norwegian Police Service (
Each police district is led by a chief of police and is subdivided into several police stations in towns and cities, and sheriffs' offices for rural areas. The Governor of Svalbard acts as chief of police for Svalbard. Norwegian police officers do not carry firearms, but keep their Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and Heckler & Koch P30 pistols locked down in the patrol cars. The Norwegian Prosecuting Authority is partially integrated with the police.
Specialist agencies within the services include the
History
The police force in Norway was established during the 13th century. Originally the 60 to 80 sheriffs (
From the 19th century, deputies were hired in larger areas to assist the sheriffs. Following the
In 1894 the authorities decided to abolish the position of bailiff and it was decided that some of its tasks would be transferred to the sheriffs. This resulted in 26 new chief of police positions, largely corresponding to the old bailiwicks. Some received jurisdiction over both cities and rural areas, other just rural areas. At the same time the existing police districts were expanded to include the surrounding rural areas. However, the individual bailiff were not removed from office until their natural retirement, leaving some bailiwick in place until 1919. The reform eliminated the difference between the rural and city police forces; yet the sheriffs were only subordinate to the chief of police in police matters—in civil matters and administration they remained under the county governors.[1]
The police school was established in 1920[2] and the Governor of Svalbard was created in 1925.[3] To increase the police force's flexibility, the municipal funding was cut and replaced with state funding in 1937.[1] That year also saw the first two specialty agencies were created, the Police Surveillance Agency (later the Police Security Service) and the Mobile Police Service.[4] After a border agreement was reached between Norway and the Soviet Union in 1949, the Norwegian Border Commission was established the following year.[5] The Criminal Investigation Service was established in 1959,[4] and the search and rescue system with two joint coordination centers and sub-centers for each police district was created in 1970.[6]
The number of police districts was nearly constant from 1894 to 2002, although a few have been creased and closed.[1] However, the organization in the various police districts varied considerably, especially in the cities. In particular, some cities had their civilian responsibilities taken care of by the municipality. This was confusing for the public, resulting in the police services reorganizing to a homogeneous organization during the 1980s, whereby the civil tasks being organized as part of the police stations.[4] Økokrim was established in 1988[7] and in 1994 the administrative responsibilities for the sheriff's offices was transferred to police districts.[1] Only once has the order to shoot to kill been issued, during the Torp hostage crisis in 1994.[8] The police school became a university college in 1993 and introduced a three-year education; in 1998 a second campus opened in Bodø.[2] Police Reform 2000 was a major restructuring of the police force. First the National Police Directorate was created in 2001,[9] and from 2003 the number of police districts were reduced from 54 to 27.[1] The Police Computing and Material Service and the Criminal Investigation Service were both established in 2004.[7] Ten police officers have been killed in service since 1945.[10] The Gjørv Report following the 2011 Norway attacks criticized several aspects of the police force, labeling the work as "unacceptable".[11] National Commissioner Øystein Mæland withdrew following the criticism, in part because an internal report of the attacks had not found any criticism of the police force.[12]
Structure
The
The
Metropolitan Norway is divided into
Each districts has specially-trained mobile units for armed and other challenging missions, and dog units for narcotics and search and rescue missions. The police districts also have police boats for coastal waters and selected lakes, with focus on
Oslo Police District has a series of special divisions and task forces which provide aid to all other police districts when necessary. It is responsible for the two police helicopters, which is mostly used for traffic motoring, search and rescue and apprehension.
Svalbard is not part of the regular police districts—instead its law enforcement is handled by the Governor of Svalbard, who holds the responsibility as both county governor and chief of police, as well as other authority granted by the executive branch. Duties include environmental policy, family law, law enforcement, search and rescue, tourism management, information services, contact with foreign settlements, and abjudication in some areas of maritime inquiries and judicial examinations—albeit never in the same cases as acting as police.[28] Jan Mayen is subordinate to Salten Police District.[29]
Jurisdiction and capabilities
Norway has a unified police, which means that there is a single police organization and that police power and prosecutor power is not granted to other agencies within Norway.[30] The sole exception is the military police, albeit which only has jurisdiction over military personnel and on military installations, except during martial law.[31] The police are decentralized and generalized to allow a more flexible resource allocation, while remaining under political control. This entails that police officers have no geographical or sector limitations to their powers.[30] The Police Act and several special laws regulate the agencies and the officer's powers and responsibilities.[7] The police are required to assist other public institutions, including the healthcare authorities, and can be asked by other agencies to assist when it is necessary to enact a decision by force. Conversely, the police can ask for assistance from the Coast Guard when necessary. The police are responsible for all responses against terrorism and sabotage unless Norway is under armed attack.[7]
Responsibilities and functions related to security includes patrolling, continual emergency availability, highway patrolling,
The police have a series of functions related to public management, such as the issuing of
The police also have the responsibility for
In 2011 the police force had 746,464 assignments, the most common with 180,000 assignments being investigation cases, such as reported deaths, controls and reports of motor vehicle theft. This was followed by traffic assignments, public disturbance of peace, animal cases, theft, private disturbance of peace, and sickness and psychiatry. Seventy-five percent of assignments are solved with a single patrol, while ninety percent are solved with one and two. In armed situations only twenty percent are solved with a single patrol.[33] In 2010 the Norwegian Police Service had 13 billion Norwegian krone in costs, of which seventy percent was used on wages. It employed 13,493 man-years, or 1.6 man-years per 1000 residents. There were 394,137 reported offenses, or 81.1 per 1000 people, of which 46 percent were solved. There were 5,399 debt settlements, 226,491 applications for writ of execution, 195,345 immigration cases and 4,615 forced returns.[34]
Investigation and prosecution
The Norwegian Prosecuting Authority is integrated into the Norwegian Police Service. The authority is divided into a higher and lower authority, with the higher authority (public prosecutor) being a separate government agency and the lower authority (police prosecutor) being members of the police. The latter includes chief of police, deputy chief of police, police prosecutors and deputy police prosecutors. In questions of prosecution the police districts are subordinate to the Norwegian Prosecuting Authority and in other matters subordinate to the National Police Directorate.[7]
The higher authorities will take decisions in serious criminal charges and for appeals.[35] The Norwegian Persecuting Authority is led by the Director General of Public Prosecutions,[36] which since 1997 has been Tor-Aksel Busch.[37] The director general makes decisions of indictment in cases with a maximum penalty of twenty-one years and certain other serious crimes.[36] There are twelve subordinate agencies, ten regional and two supporting Kripos and Økokrim, respectively. The regional public prosecution offices take decisions regarding cases not covered by the director general or the police prosecutors.[38]
If an offense is filed, the issue may be investigated by police on duty. Permission for
Criminal cases with an assumed perpetrator are sent to the public prosecutor, who will consider issuing an indictment. If positive, the trial will take place at a district court, with a police prosecutor presiding over the case.[39] Cases with more than six years maximum penalty will normally be carried out with public prosecutors prosecuting.[36] Either party can, on specified terms, appeal the outcome of the case to the court of appeal and ultimately the Supreme Court of Norway.[39]
Education and employment
Education of police officers is the responsibility of the Norwegian Police University College, which is subordinate to the National Police Directorate. The main campus is located at Majorstuen in Oslo, while the secondary campus is located at Mørkved in Bodø. In addition the college has training centers in Kongsvinger and Stavern.[40] Police officer training is a three-year bachelor's degree, where the first and third year take place at the college and the second year is on-the-ground training in police districts.[41]
In 2009, 1990 people applied for 432 places at the college. From 2010, admission is administrated through the
At the time of graduation all officers are qualified for operational service. However, each employee must undergo 40 hours of yearly training, including firearms practice, to keep their operational certification. Without this, they cannot patrol, use firearms or participate in actions. Forty-four percent of police officers in 2012 lacked such certification. The main reason is that the police districts see it as a waste of resources to train investigation and administrative staff which do not participate in operative duty, and that a higher quality is achieved through specialization of tasks, such as dedicated investigation personnel.[33]
Each police district may dictate that operational personnel have a higher amount of training, for instance 80 hours is required in Oslo. Officers are certified at five levels, of which the top four can use firearms. Level three consists of a call-out unit for each police district, consisting of a combined 646 people. This requires 103 hours of special training per year. Higher levels are required for body-guard service (55 officers) and the tactical unit Delta (73 officers). All certification curriculum is developed by and organized by the university college.[33]
The
Equipment
As of 2023 the police's new patrol cars are
The police have two main types of uniforms, type I is used for personnel which primarily undertake indoor work, and type II is used for personnel which primarily undertakes outdoor service. Both types have summer and winter versions, and type I also has a
Police officers are not armed with
Previously the police used a decentralized information technology system developed during the mid-1990s.[61] As late as 2012 servers were still being run with Windows NT 4.0 from 1996 and log-on times were typically twenty minutes. The new IT-system D#2 was introduced in 2011 and will have been taken into use by all divisions by 2012.[62] D#2 will be operated by ErgoGroup and will have two redundant server centers. Personnel have access to the system via thin clients.[63] The police have a system to raise a national alarm to close border crossings and call in reserve personnel. The one time it was activated the message was not received by any of the intended recipients.[64] Since 2009 it has been possible to report criminal damage and theft of wallets, bicycles and mobile telephones without a known perpetrator(s) online.[65]
The
Ranks[68]
Rank | Politidirektør | Assisterende politidirektør | Politimester | Visepolitimester | Politiinspektør Politiadvokat (appointed before 1 Aug 2002) |
Politiadvokat (appointed after 1 Aug 2002) | Politifullmektig |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Translation | Police Director | Assistant Police Director | Police Master | Vice Police Master | Police Inspector Police Advocate |
Police Advocate | Police Proxy |
Official Translation | National Police Commissioner | Assistant National Commissioner | Chief of Police | Deputy Chief of Police | Assistant Chief of Police Police Prosecutor |
Police Prosecutor | Junior Police Prosecutor |
Equivalent[69] | Inspector-General
|
Deputy Inspector-General | Commissioner | Deputy Commissioner
|
Assistant Commissioner
|
Chief Superintendent
|
Superintendent |
Insignia | |||||||
Rank | Politistasjonssjef Lensmann Politioverbetjent (appointed before 1 Aug 2002) |
Politioverbetjent (appointed after 1 Aug 2002) | Politiførstebetjent | Politibetjent 3 | Politibetjent 2 | Politibetjent 1 | Politireserven |
Former Rank | Politiassisterendestasjonssjef | Politisjefinspectør | Politiførsteinspectør | Politioverbetjent (Overkonstabel) | Politibetjent (Konstabel) | ||
Translation | Police Station Chief Sheriff Police Senior Constable |
Police Senior Constable | Police First Constable | Police Constable 3 | Police Constable 2 | Police Constable 1 | Police Reserve |
Official Translation | Police Chief Superintendent | Police Superintendent | Police Chief Inspector | Police Inspector | Police Sergeant | Police Constable | Police Reserve |
Equivalent | Chief Inspector
|
Inspector | Sub-Inspector
|
Sergeant Major
|
Sergeant | Constable | Special Constable
|
Insignia |
See also
References
- ^ Ministry of Justice and the Police. 12 January 2001. Archivedfrom the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ a b c "Historie" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police University College. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
- ISBN 82-90307-55-1.
- ^ Ministry of Justice and the Police. 12 January 2001. Archivedfrom the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ Johanson, Bodil B. "Overenkomsten" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Norwegian Border Commissioner. p. 41. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
- Ministry of Justice and the Police. Archived(PDF) from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ Ministry of Justice and the Police. 24 June 2005. Archivedfrom the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "– Jeg var både dommer og bøddel". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 12 March 2003. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ a b National Police Directorate (2010): 7
- ^ Gjerstad, Tore (4 March 2010). "Ti politimenn drept siden krigen". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Norway police 'could have stopped Breivik sooner'". BBC News. 13 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ "Norway police chief quits over Breivik report". BBC News. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ Hamnes, Leif (17 August 2012). "Politimestrene uenige om Humlegård er rett mann til å bli ny politidirektør". Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 15
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 16
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 17
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 17–18
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 18
- ^ "Welcome". Joint Rescue Coordination Centres Southern Norway and Northern Norway. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 5
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 8
- ^ "Om Oslo politidistrikt" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police Service. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "Om Østfinnmark politidistrikt" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police Service. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 11
- ^ a b National Police Directorate (2010): 12
- Norwegian Social Science Data Services. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ National Police Directorate (2010): 13
- Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police. 29 October 1999. Archivedfrom the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ "FOR 1962-06-01 nr 3341: Instruks for sjefen for den militære stasjon på Jan Mayen for så vidt angår fremmedkontroll og fiskerioppsyn" (in Norwegian). Lovdata. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ Ministry of Justice and the Police. 24 June 2005. Archivedfrom the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Lov om politimyndighet i det militære forsvar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Om pass og ID-kort". Politiet (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ a b c Foss, Andreas Bakke (31 August 2012). "En av to politifolk får ikke lov til å rykke ut". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- ^ "Politiet som del av påtalemyndigheten" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Police and prosecution – StatRes" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police Service. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ a b c National Police Directorate (2010): 29
- ^ Foss, Andreas Bakke (22 June 2012). "– Hun bør bli vår neste riksadvokat". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ "Welcome to The higher prosecution autorothies – The Director of Public Prosecutions and the Regional Public Prosecution Offices". Norwegian Prosecuting Authority. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ a b c National Police Directorate (2010): 31–33
- ^ "Om PHS" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police University College. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Norway". Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Opptakstatistikk" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police University College. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Master" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Police University College. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- Ministry of Justice and the Police. 12 January 2001. Archivedfrom the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- Confederation of Unions for Professionals, Norway. 11 October 2011. Archivedfrom the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- Confederation of Unions for Professionals, Norway. 11 October 2011. Archivedfrom the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Full list". European Confederation of Police. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- )
- ^ Tuastad, Svein (17 August 2012). "Ukulturen i politiet". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Om PHS" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- Hegnar Online. Archivedfrom the original on 30 December 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Helsingeng, Terje (8 March 2012). "Nytt politihelikopter på plass 1. juni". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2012."Politidirektøren fikk en luftetur i sitt nye 100 millioner kroners-helikopter". TU.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ "12 Helikopter og beredskap". Rapport fra 22. juli-kommisjonen (in Norwegian). Office of the Prime Minister. 13 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ^ "Kapittel 2 – Tjenesteantrekk" (in Norwegian). National Police Computing and Material Service. Archived from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2005.
- ^ "Tjenesteantrekk II – Grunnform" (in Norwegian). National Police Computing and Material Service. Archived from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2005.
- ^ "Tjenesteantrekk I – Grunnform" (in Norwegian). National Police Computing and Material Service. Archived from the original on 3 November 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2005.
- Ministry of Justice and the Police. 24 June 2005. Archivedfrom the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Bråten, Knut (21 September 2008). "Legger vekk revolveren". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Klungveit, Harald S. (22 November 2007). "Skytemistenkt var i statsministerens livvaktstyrke". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Archivedfrom the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ Oreld, Michael (23 September 2008). "Mer it-trøbbel for politiet". Computerworld (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ Mortvedt, Ole (23 January 2012). "– Som en bil uten girkasse". Politiforum (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ Kirknes, Leif Martin (29 March 2011). "Politiet får to nye datasentre". Computerworld (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ Zachariassen, Espen (13 August 2012). "Riksalarm stoppet av intern krangel". Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- ^ Hovland, Kjetil Malkenes (31 August 2009). "Anmeld på nett". Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning. 16 August 2010. Archivedfrom the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Hamnes, Leif (11 March 2010). "Tidsnød-nettet". Teknisk Ukeblad (in Norwegian). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Norwegian National Police
- ^ Approximate Commonwealth equivalent by level of responsibility.
- Bibliography
- (PDF) on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.