– Today we plan from budget year to budget year. It becomes difficult to achieve good planning when you have to plan from hand to mouth, says police chief in Finnmark police district, Ellen Katrine Hætta. Four employee organizations in the police describe an existence where they lack a clear mandate on what role they should have in future society. In a joint appeal, they ask the authorities to listen. – The police are controlled to a far too great extent by political whims, says union leader Einar Kaldhol in Parat politie. – The role of the police has changed significantly since 1976. So has Norway and society, says Einar Kaldhol, confederation leader of the workers’ organization Parat politiet. Photo: Ned Alley – Overrun The move comes just over a month after the police union claimed they felt overrun by the authorities. The background was the government’s decision to open ten new police offices from and including 1 January 2024. The announcement came in the middle of the election campaign. The response was not long in coming. – It’s bordering on arrogant! When they have received such clear advice from police professionals that we don’t need this, they still beat us to it, said leader Unn Alma Skatvold of the Norwegian Police Union to NTB. The employee organization Parat believes that the uncertainty surrounding the future of the police may contribute to the fact that the police are no longer as attractive as a workplace. Photo: Åge Algerøy / news Petition Four employee organizations are now issuing a petition in which they ask the Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness for this: 1: A new police role committee is appointed, the aim of which is broad political anchoring of what the role of the police is, and shall be in the future, which tasks the police must perform and possibly be exempted from. 2: Multi-year plans are introduced for the police, based on the director of police’s professional advice, and with a risk-assessed level of ambition. Almost 50 years since the Police Role Committee was last appointed in 1976, and the committee presented its reports 42 years ago. The Police Role Committee The Police Role Committee was established by royal decree on 10 December 1976. The committee’s mandate was to review the duties of the police. In addition, the committee considered which duties the police should still have and which they should possibly be exempted from. The committee was to give an opinion on which tasks should be the police’s primary tasks. The committee answered the questions through an analysis of society’s needs for police services. Source: The government – The role of the police has changed significantly since 1976. So has Norway and society, says Kaldhol. He gets support from Hætta. – It is time for a new selection. The new security policy situation creates completely different requirements for the services compared to what we have had so far. It is entirely in its place with greater predictability, she believes. Weak planning Both Hætta and Kaldhol express great frustration at the lack of long-term planning. – What is particularly demanding is that the budget is not ready until March-April, i.e. available in the districts where the money is to be used. So a quarter of the year has already passed before the offices can begin to allocate the money, explains Kaldhol. It is especially in employment processes that the weaknesses come to the surface, says the union leader. – Anyone who has been in a recruitment process knows that this sort of thing cannot be done in a week if it is to be done properly, says Kaldhol. And continues: – Let’s say that we receive money that will be used to work with investments in a given area. Then we have perhaps half a year. And when we find out about this in June, we will probably have reached August, September before we have hired people, he emphasizes. Demanding Kaldhol describes feedback from union members with training responsibilities: – They report that it is incredibly demanding and unpredictable to train people. Then you know that in a few months they have quit or moved on to others. This has something to do with how attractive the police are as a workplace. Our motto is full, permanent positions, he says. The police chief in Finnmark believes that the unpredictability of budgets is a challenge. – This is about predictability in relation to what the police will do in 2-3 years, says Ellen Katrine Hætta. Photo: Allan Klo / news Security policy This year, both the Defense Commission and the Total Preparedness Commission have submitted reports that point to and describe a new security policy situation for Norway. Ellen Katrine Hætta emphasizes that the police should not be lagging behind. – This is about predictability in relation to what the police will do in 2-3 years. This means that we can develop in step with the crime, and we can prevent in a completely different way, she says. Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) does not want to respond directly to the criticism from the four employee organisations. – I received the letter from the four organizations yesterday, I will consider this further in consultation with, among others, the police management and the trade unions, she writes in an e-mail to news. Mehl points out that the government has already initiated work to map several challenges within crime. Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp). Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / news Stortingsmelding – Among other things, a Stortingsmelding against economic crime, an escalation plan against violence and abuse against children and violence in close relationships and an investigation boost, she writes. – In addition, we have already received an evaluation of the police reform, a review of the Directorate of Police’s role, the understanding of the role of the police, the 25 June evaluation, the Committee on the use of force, and the total preparedness commission which is currently being processed both in the ministry and at the police itself, Mehl states.
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The police want to have a more long-term perspective in planning their own activities – news Troms and Finnmark
