The case in summary: The police station in Steigen was reopened in 2023 against professional advice from the police. Local union representatives believe that the working conditions at the station are far from good enough. The employees have no cloakroom, garage, canteen and the windows are boarded up again. It is so loud in the premises that the employees have to be questioned in the car or travel to the homes of people who are to be questioned. The premises are located inside the town hall in Steigen and are not shielded for employees who do not work in the police. The Norwegian Police Directorate and the Ministry of Justice have been submitted to the criticism and work is underway to find new premises. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. The police station in Steigen is one of six police stations that the government reopened on the eve of 2023 – against professional advice from the police. A total of nine offices were reopened last year. A couple of months later, the working conditions at the “new” station in Steigen – more precisely two rooms at the town hall – are far from good enough. This is the opinion of local union representatives, who are now shouting warnings about the daily working life of the five employees at the office. – The premises are not satisfactory at all. It is a difficult situation for the employees, says leader Marina Sørgård of the Police Union in Nordland to news. – By definition, these are not offices. We are talking about greenhouses. Sørgård says that the employees in Steigen do not have a cloakroom, there is no garage and there is no canteen. On top of it all, the windows are nailed shut, so there is no way to ventilate. The town hall in Steigen currently also functions as a police station. Photo: Billy Jacobsen / news Not shielded for municipal employees The police have rented premises at the town hall in Steigen since the office opened in October. They are only temporarily awaiting new, permanent premises. Both Sørgård and unit manager for the police in Salten, Robin Johnsen, list several problems at the office in Steigen that make everyday life more difficult for the employees: It is so loud in the premises that the employees have to be questioned in the car or travel to the homes of people to be questioned. The employees spend a lot of time in the car traveling to the police station in Hamarøy, because the premises in Steigen are not set up for police work. The premises are located inside the town hall in Steigen and are not shielded for employees who do not work in the police. – The offices are, in both my view and that of the employees, too poor to function as a suitable place of service, but at the same time it was what was possible to get hold of, says unit manager Johnsen. Thinks they were given too little time He says that they were told by the Directorate of Police on 1 June last year to find a suitable premises for five police employees at Steigen, and that it should be ready by 1 October. Both he and Sørgård believe it was not given enough time to find a suitable venue. – At the same time, there is a lack of good enough premises in Steigen. The municipality has been very keen to find something for us, but the Police’s joint services have strict specifications for a police station. Unfortunately, it is not something that the municipality can deliver on now, says Sørgård. Avisa Nordland has also discussed the working conditions at the police station in Steigen. Unit leader for the police in Salten, Robin Johnsen. Photo: Hege Kristin Hagen Johnsen emphasizes that although they are “very dissatisfied” with the offices, preparedness in Nord-Salten has improved. – We have more police officers in the area than before, but the office at Steigen is not good enough. We still have an office at Innhavet with all the facilities needed, plus the office in Steigen which is not good enough. Working with new premises news has submitted the criticism from Sørgård and Johnsen to the Norwegian Police Directorate and the Ministry of Justice. Acting section chief in the Norwegian Police Directorate, Margunn Greenberg, responds as follows in an e-mail: – The Norwegian Police Directorate’s role is to facilitate the implementation of the government’s policy. The creation of an office in Steigen is a political decision which we are implementing in line with the guidelines given by the ministry. The premises in Steigen are temporary, and work is underway to find new premises.
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The government reopened the police station in Steigen – shop stewards react to working conditions – news Nordland
