Patrol police feel they are becoming fewer

The police patrol section in Oslo says there are fewer and fewer police patrolling the streets. They believe today’s crime-rate requires more.

“We do the best we can. But I feel that we fall short a lot more often than before, and that means that I and my co-workers often have a bad conscience because we know people are calling and asking for help. They should get help, but do not get it, because we have more important things to do,” says Wictor Furøy, head of the patrol section at the Central Police Station in Oslo to NRK.

Furøy has been patrolling for 24 years, but has never known there being so few on patrol, the channel writes.

Deputy Chief of Police Håkon Skulstad tells NRK that they believe the target of two police officers per thousand inhabitants, which was set twelve years ago, is outdated. The reason is the sharp increase in several types of serious crime in recent years.

Justice Minister Jøran Kallmyr (FrP/Progress Party) believes that the answer to major crime challenges is not necessarily more police officers, but restructuring and more police officers with different backgrounds. He thinks they’ve got the money to do it.

“Among other things, we have proposed 400 million more to the police next year, i.e. a real reinforcement. This is, among other things, to increase the investigative capacity and to hire more police officers,” Kallmyr tells NRK.

He agrees that more resources are needed than projected twelve years ago and points to budget increases of just under 5 billion kroner in 2013.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today