There is much to grasp from the 25 June committee’s extensive investigation report. As expected, PST came under the spotlight, where the criticism is about everything from uncultured to the fact that the committee believes the attack could have been prevented. But the director of police must also answer for himself. In the report, Benedicte Bjørnland is held personally responsible for the fact that the queer community was refused to hold a solidarity demonstration at Rådhusplassen in Oslo two days after the attack. Marking first approved On Monday 27 June, Oslo Pride wanted to organize a mark to show support for the victims of the attack. The idea was that everyone who wanted to could participate. The evening before, Raymond Johansen appeared on Dagsrevyen. “I really want to encourage Oslo people to come here, ring the queer movement,” said the city council leader. The Oslo police were naturally asked about security. And the arrangement was approved. This despite the fact that the police knew that many people would come, that the threat situation was unclear, and that the PST believed that so-called follow-on attacks were possible. As late as the morning of 27 June, the police in the capital nevertheless concluded that it was possible to secure the marking. The director of police intervened. The surprise was therefore great when the police leadership did a complete U-turn a few hours later and advised against the entire solidarity marking. Then it was said that “the marking had grown so large that safety could not be guaranteed”. In the report from the investigation committee, it appears that this was not the truth. “The rationale must be invented by the Oslo police district almost there and then, as this is a decision made by the director of police,” writes the committee. Now it turns out that it was Police Director Benedicte Bjørnland herself who decided that the whole thing had to be cancelled. Bjørnland received new information from PST’s acting chief at a meeting of the government’s security committee (RSU). The new information must have been so sensational that the director of police immediately took action. Gets a failing grade The problem is, according to the committee, that Bjørnland made the decision on a failing basis. “The director of police should not instruct the police districts in operational matters without detailed knowledge of the police district’s understanding of the situation, resource situation and police professional assessments,” the report reads. The committee is also dissatisfied that the possible threat was not assessed against the constitution’s provisions on freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. And even worse; the committee believes that the decision was a violation of human rights because it “violated many people’s freedom to exercise their freedom of expression”. In other words, the director of police gets a failing grade. And it is serious when you are the leader of the country’s combined police force. The police listened to the radio It doesn’t get any better if the police leadership in Oslo had to listen to the radio to find out why they were forced to cancel the commemoration at Rådhusplassen. In Dagsnytt 18 the same evening, PST chief Roger Berg went to great lengths to confirm news’s information that PST lacked an overview of a group of people in a particular environment. “The communications staff in the Oslo police listen to the broadcast and transcribe his justification for the recommendation they had given earlier that day, but had not previously received any justification for,” the investigation report reads. In retrospect, we know that the Oslo police already had much of the same information as the PST chief. This is also the opinion of the committee, which is clear in its conclusion: “The director of police’s decision was based on a misunderstanding of the Oslo police district’s knowledge of the threat picture. The Oslo police district was familiar with the main elements of a threat picture, which the police director assumed the police district was not aware of” Heavy food In sum, it is easy to understand that many people react. To news, the general secretary of Skeiv Verden says that the whole thing is perceived as offensive. It is hardly an understatement, not even compared to the other conclusions in the selection report. Because it was heavy food that came. The committee believes that the attack could develop into the deadliest attack on civilians in Europe in many years. They believe that PST had at least four opportunities to stop it, but that the security service failed when it mattered most. When the investigation committee was appointed, the director of police said that the evaluation was important for trust in the police. That trust is unlikely to be strengthened with what we now know.
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The police director gets a failing grade – Speech
