– We did not want a new office. Offices and rent tie up resources, which we could rather spend on patrols and investigations. Then we get more for our money, says police chief Nils Kristian Moe in Trøndelag police district. Despite the fact that the police chief does not want a new office, the government has decided that the office at Meråker in Trøndelag will be reopened. Police chief Nils Kristian Moe in Trøndelag police district did not want a new office in Meråker municipality. Photo: The police Reopening police offices was a key election promise from the Center Party in the 2021 parliamentary election campaign. In the end, it was stated in the Hurdal platform that 20 offices will be reopened. In 2023, nine of these workplaces will be opened, according to the list the government presented in January. On Wednesday 23 August, the government will hold a press conference at Sørumsand in Lillestrøm municipality, where it is expected that there will be news about the police. The map shows the municipalities that will get a new place of service during 2023. news has spoken to the police in the nine places where it is already known that an office will be opened. In six of the places, the police say that they do not want a new office, or that it is against professional police advice. Three are positive. – Establishing a new office in a small place is a bit off-putting and different from how we think of police services today to deal with today’s crime, says the police chief in Trøndelag. The police respond to this news has asked the police at the nine locations in question what they think about these service locations being restored. They have responded as follows: Engerdal: Did not want a new office Meråker: Did not want a new office and believes it is against the police professional advice Steigen: Did not want a new office Sandefjord and Sigdal: Against the police professional advice Salangen: Did not want a new office Oslo: Positive for a new office at Mortensrud Hvaler: Positive for new office Stranda: Positive for new office in Geiranger Against police professional advice In the last years before the office at Meråker was closed, there was one sheriff who worked there, with the assistance of patrols from Stjørdal. – Our assessment was that it worked well, says the police chief. The government has now decided that five positions will be created associated with the office in Meråker. The police chief believes there is no basis for that. – Restoring Meråker as a separate police service station is against all my police professional advice. In isolation, there is no basis for police service carried out by five police officers in Meråker municipality, he says. – The number of criminal cases and other conditions in the municipality do not indicate that it is simply necessary, he continues. In 2022, there were 122 criminal cases in Meråker. Over 30 of them were traffic offences. In addition, some of the cases were related to customs controls, news was told by the police chief. He says that crime is more digital and organized now, and says that this means that the police have to work in other ways than having police officers scattered in smaller offices. – Isn’t it a bit strange that an office is set up in Meråker, if it is against all police professional advice, and you don’t want it yourself? – You almost have to ask the politicians about that. In any case, it is against the advice that has been clearly expressed from here. It is actually contrary to the way we work, because we think that the police do best in contact with the citizens and not spread out less in offices, he replies. Do not want more offices In addition to the office in Meråker, the establishment of offices in Engerdal, Salangen, Sandefjord, Sigdal and Steigen is also against the police’s professional advice or not registered as a wish from the police districts themselves. – Our professional police advice was that we need more people, not more service locations, says police chief Astrid Nilsen in the Troms police district. Police chief Astrid Nilsen in the Troms police district says she needs more people, not more service stations. Photo: Pål Hansen / news In the Innlandet police district, police chief Johan Brekke writes in an e-mail that the new office to be established in Engerdal municipality was not registered as a wish. – The police district primarily wanted to strengthen the duty stations we have today, and the new duty station was not registered as a request from the police district, he writes. In the South-East police district, an office will be established in Sandefjord and an office in Sigdal. – Our professional police advice was that there were other means than a new location that would have a greater effect. But the police are politically governed and this is a political decision which we implement in line with the guidelines that have been given, writes police chief Ole Bredrup Sæverud in an e-mail. In the Nordland police district, the office in Steigen will be restored. Police chief Heidi Kløkstad has previously told news that there are areas in Nordland where there is a greater need for resources than in Steigen. – We face much more crime in the digital space now than before. We should have been much more present there. It is not certain that five new positions in Steigen will help in that field, said the police chief in mid-August. Political responsibility Center party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, on the other hand, believes that it is not just the chiefs of police and the police leadership who must control where the duty stations are located. – We have sent letters to the municipalities and heard what they think out in the local communities. It is not just the chiefs of police or the Norwegian Police Directorate who must decide everything, you must also listen to the local people, he says. He believes it is the right decision to restore the offices. Center party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum believes that it is not just the chiefs of police and the management who should control where the duty stations are located. Photo: Malin Nygård Solberg / news – But shouldn’t the police be allowed to dispose of this money themselves, instead of earmarking five positions here or there? – Ultimately, it is a political responsibility for us to have the police present throughout the country. Then you have to listen to the local population, listen to those who know the problems first hand, and of course have close contact with police chiefs and the Directorate of Police, replies Vedum. – Stated wisely, the Government’s decision to open new service stations is supported by the police districts in Oslo, Øst and Møre and Romsdal. – It is clearly wise to have a police station at Mortensrud in the south all the time Manglerud police station is moved to Alfaset, which is located in the north of the city/Groruddalen, writes acting head of staff for business management in the Oslo police district, Jørgen Sundblad Hvalby. At Hvaler, police inspector Tommy Brøske in the East police district says that he is happy about the summer-open office. – Both Hvaler municipality and the local police are concerned with a local presence and to be more visible and present in the municipality during the summer weeks when there are many tourists here, he says. Unit leader Tommy Brøske in Follo in the East police district says he is happy about the summer open office in Hvaler. Photo: Martin Tangen Schmidt / news Police chief Ingar Bøen in Møre og Romsdal is also happy to have had an office open for the summer in Geiranger in Stranda municipality. – There is a need for police in Geiranger in the summer. We have always been there, but not at such a level that we have the opportunity to be now, he says. He does not question the government’s decision. – For us, this is very simple. We relate to the decisions that are made politically, and we implement the justice policy of the current government at all times. That is our job, and we do it 100 percent loyally, says Bøen.
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The government establishes a police office against the wishes of the police – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
