For 18 years, police officer Adnan Naeem has been on patrol. In 15 of them, he has also worked for the police to be allowed to carry weapons as a permanent part of their uniform in daily, operational service. At Sentrum police station in Oslo, Naeem unlocks the service weapon from the cupboard where it is locked between the guards. In place in the patrol car, the weapon is locked in a box, in what is called advanced storage. And to take it out, he must have a clearance. During one shift, he has experienced having to lock the weapon out and in as many as five times. – It takes its toll when we have to prepare them for urgent and hectic assignments, he explains to news. CUT TO: The police now have weapons available in their cars. That is not sufficient, says police officer Adnan Naeem. Photo: Mats Rønning / news Too often it’s about seconds and minutes. – There are several times we sit in the car and come across knife incidents, fights with dangerous objects, and then you have to intervene. There may be threats with firearms out on the streets, says Naeem. He says stun guns are a good tool to have, but adds: – There is no substitute for guns. It is much safer with the weapon on the hip, says Naeem. – Changed threat picture The political parties in the Storting are now chiseling out new policies before the election next autumn. In the Conservative Party, justice policy spokesperson Sveinung Stensland has gone from no to yes on the question of general armament. Now he wants to take the fight internally. – Time has run out from the Conservative Party’s position on not having general arming of the police. I think the police should be armed all the way, he says to news. – We are seeing more and more attacks. The police need protection, and they also need weapons. ARMING: Storting representative Sveinung Stensland from the Conservative Party. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo / news In today’s party program it is stated that the Conservative Party will “proceed with the possibility of providing point weaponry in vulnerable locations after risk and vulnerability analyses”. – Why have you turned around? – Because the crime picture is changing, the threat picture is changing and the respect for the police is changing, says Stensland. Høyre’s parliamentary politician Erlend Svardal Bøe from Troms has also turned the matter around, according to Nordlys. PROTESTING: KrF deputy leader Ida Lindtveit Røse wants general arming of the police. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo For decades the debate about armament has raged, but so far only the Progress Party has advocated this. The KrF has long been strongly against general armament. Together with Venstre, KrF stopped the Høyre/Frp government’s opening for this in 2014. But now KrF deputy leader Ida Lindtveit Røse wants a change of course: – I think we must have a discussion about the introduction of general armaments and advocate for it, says she to news. – But KrF has always argued very strongly against this, right? – Yes, and I have done that myself. But when the crime scene changes as dramatically as it does now, we must also be willing to have a discussion about whether the means of action must also change. – The police seize several weapons, and there are also several cases of psychiatry, where there is great uncertainty for the police. Extensive armament Today, general armament is introduced at irregular intervals. It can happen in connection with threats against specific places or celebrations. In April, the Norwegian Police Directorate announced that in the future the police would be armed in certain periods, including at events, anniversaries and holidays such as 17 May. In the autumn of 2022, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) received the report from the government-appointed committee on the use of force. The committee recommended general armament, although not unanimously. Mehl has not yet followed up on the report. ARMAMENT: The police in Bergen on 17 May this year. Photo: NTB The Attorney General, the Police Directorate, the Norwegian Police Confederation (PF) and Norway’s Police Leaders Association support general arming. – With the threat assessments we see now, the organized crime and the challenges in our society today, society needs the Norwegian police to be armed, says deputy leader Ørjan Hortland in PF. However, the Association of Lawyers does not. – In the view of the Norwegian Bar Association, there has been no development in the crime picture since 2017 that would indicate that there is a need to reassess the armament model, it wrote in its consultation response a year ago. SUPPORTER: Deputy leader Ørjan Hjortland in the Police Union. Photo: Mats Rønning / news Civic division The governing parties, the Labor Party and the Center Party, have no expressed ambitions to introduce general arming of the police. And SV is against it. And on the bourgeois side, there is therefore division. The Progress Party has long been in favor of general armament, while the Liberal Party, KrF and the Conservative Party have been against it. – Today’s arrangement, with advanced storage and temporary arming if necessary, adequately covers the needs that the police have, says Venstre’s justice policy spokesperson Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik. – In very few service assignments there is actually a need for weapons. Then we are left with whether the police should be armed in situations that do not require it. She fears general arming could increase the distance between citizens and the police, cause dangerous situations to escalate and the use of violence to increase. SUFFICIENT: Venstres Ingvild Vesterhus Thorsvik will not have general armaments. Photo: William Jobling / news Published 12.06.2024, at 05.44
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Want to let the police carry weapons – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
