Oslo's police department is having a hard time coping with a rising crime rate. Only one in five reported cases is currently being resolved, police seem as frustrated as crime victims, and commentators worry that citizens are having to rely on private security firms to ensure their safety.
The numbers speak for themselves: No country has fewer police per capita than Norway, as many as 70 percent of so-called petty crimes are never followed up, and while the police force has increased 150 percent since 1960, the crime rate has increased 700 percent.
With so few crimes being investigated and solved, observers worry that Norwegians are losing confidence in whether the police will even come when called. Seven of 10 Norwegians have no faith that they'll get any help if someone breaks into their home, reports newspaper Aftenposten..
Justice Minister Knut Storberget, confronted with the challenges facing the police, has denied there's any crisis and points out that the Oslo Police District alone has received NOK 400 million in additional funding since 2000. He was harshly criticized, though, when he asked the public which cases the police should rank further down their lists when setting priorities, instead of addressing how the police could be equipped to do a better job.
Police resources have been strained by a rise in organized crime, gang crime, some spectacular cases like the NOKAS and Munch robberies, and heightened security demands, not least for public figures, local embassies and members of the royal family.
No less than six patrol cars, for example, were deemed necessary to lead a convoy of royals in Oslo over the weekend to celebrate King Harald's birthday, while a police helicopter hovered overhead. Oslo police are also obliged to constantly be on duty at several embassies in Oslo that are seen as terrorist targets.
This comes at a time when the 190,000 residents of Oslo's Østensjø, Nordstrand and Søndre Nordstrand districts often have just one police patrol on duty, which itself often gets sent downtown on weekends to control violent drunks.
Privatizing police services
Concerns are rising that all this will lead Norwegians to take the law into their own hands. Many already are investing in personal alarms, pepper spray and private security firms. Homeowner associations, for example, are feeling forced to employ such firms to patrol apartment complexes at night and perform such tasks as telling partymakers to be quiet, because the police don't come when called.
There currently are 8,250 police officers in Norway today, reports newspaper Aftenposten, but more than 10,000 private security guards spread over 250 different companies.
This isn't the way it's supposed to be in a social welfare state like Norway, where law and order should be enforced for everyone and not just those wealthy enough to afford private security firms.
"Today, the problems with the police are leading to new class differences," wrote Knut Olav Åmås, in charge of public debate and commentary at Aftenposten over the weekend. "So this is all about what kind of society Norway should be."
Aftenposten English Web Desk
Nina Berglund
Courtsey: http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1661877.ece
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