Police are assessing possible requirements for more officers on duty at pubs and restaurants in Bergen

PolicePolice Car, Photo: Norway Today Media

Due to several violent episodes, the police will impose more security presence at places that serve alcohol in Bergen.

 

A total of 251 people have been exposed to violence at Bryggen or the Square (Torget) in Bergen these past two years, writes Bergens Tidende, which has obtained the figures on the number of reported incidents to the police.

The numbers are even higher for the Engen and Torgallmenningen areas. Here, 383 violent episodes have been reported since the beginning of 2016.

“I do not want to say that it’s very dramatic, yet, but we have to do something now before it escalates,” said officer Bengt Angeltvedt, chief of the patrol department, to the newspaper.

An action against violence is imposing more security. Angeltvedt says, they are considering whether an order for this should apply to all places that serve alcohol.

“There will be some reactions to this. Especially the smaller places I think will feel such an order unfair. But it’s about taking a share in the responsibility,” he says.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today