Administration
The
Police Departement
The Police department and the Directorate of the Police
constitues the central authority for the police. The
Police Department has the administrative responsibility
for the Superior Prosecution Authority and the Military
Disciplinary Authority.
The
Police Department is organised in two sections:
Section
for Planning and Research covers the areas of
Crime Politics, International Police Cooperation,
Norwegian Police Security Service, Emergency preperation,
Administration,
Section
for Administrative Development covers the areas of
Management,Control
with subordinate agencies,Information Technology,
Organisational Development, Personnel Administration,
Finance
There
are 27 police districts. The districts are led by
police commissioners (Politimestre), who have as their
immediate subordinates, deputy police commissioners
(Politiinspektorer), assistant commissioners (Politiadjutanter)
and superintendents (Politifullmektiger).
THE
NATIONAL POLICE DIRECTORATE
The
National Police Directorate official pages http://www.politi.no/politiet/english.shtml
The
National Police Directorate shall manage and co-ordinate
the police in order to ensure a predictable, efficient
and flexible service for the benefit of the public.
The Police Commissioner is head of the Norwegian police.
In
Norway there is only one police force. The organisation
of the Norwegian Police is largely based on the principle
of an integrated police, that is that all the functions
of the police are collected in one organisation.
Here you can download a
short introduction to the Police in Norway (PDF-format).
Here you can download
Our Service Declaration (PDF-format).
The
police force is administered by the Directorate of
the Police. It is also subordinate to the Public Prosecution
Authority (den offentlige påtalemyndighet) with
regard to the investigation and prosecution of crimes.
The police commissioners and their immediate subordinates
form the first instance of the Public Prosecution
Authority, which is headed by the Director General
of Public Prosecutions (Riksadvokaten).
The
Director General is appointed by, and directly accountable
to, the King, independent of the Ministry of Justice.
He or she is assisted by Public Prosecutors or State
Attorneys (Statsadvokater). All Public Prosecutors
or State Attorneys are lawyers and appointed by the
King. In rural areas, police duties are carried out
by sheriffs (Lensmenn), each of whom has general administrative
authority in relation to a defined district. There
are 370 such districts. As a police officer, a sheriff
is accountable to the local police commissioner.
There
are several special units to the police force, all
of which are administered centrally. These include
the National Bureau of Crime Investigation (Kriminalpolitisentralen
- "Kripos"), the Police Security Service
(Politiets Overvåkingstjeneste), the Police
Computing Service (Politiets Datatjeneste), the Police
Equipment Service (Politiets Materielltjeneste) and
the Mobile Police (Utrykningspolitiet). There is also
a small specialist anti-terror squad based in Oslo.
The
functions and tasks of the police are many and varied,
ranging from the usual maintenance of law and order,
the investigation and prevention of crime, to more
specialized administrative tasks, such as immigration
control and control of lotteries and gambling. The
main rules governing the functions and tasks of the
police force are found in the Police Act of 1936,
the Police Instruction of 1990, the Surveillance Instruction
of 1977, the Weapon Instruction of 1989, the Criminal
Procedures Act of 1981 and the Prosecution Instruction
of 1985. It should be noted that the fundamental right
of police to maintain public order is based on customary
law and not set down in statute. However, this right
was included in a proposal for a new Police Act, drafted
in 1991 and submitted to Parliament in 1994.
The police are completely independent of the military
forces. In certain emergency situations, such as rescue
operations and natural catastrophes, the police can
seek the assistance of the military when there are
insufficient civilian resources to cope with the situation.
In such cases, the military forces are under command
of the police and must follow the laws, which regulate
police actions.
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