Sweden wants Norwegian police officers to come and work in the country
A majority in the Swedish parliament (Riksdag) wants to employ Norwegian police officers to solve the shortage in Sweden.
Last year, the Swedish Police Association proposed that the government should investigate the possibilities of strengthening the Swedish police by employing police officers from Norway.
The proposal is included in the budget proposal of the Christian Democrats, which was recently presented.
According to Swedish Radio, the party wants police officers from Norway – after additional education – to be able to get a job in Sweden.
According to the radio channel, a majority in the Riksdag is positive about the proposal.
The Liberals, the Center Party, the Sweden Democrats, and the Moderates all think the proposal is interesting.
“Wrong way”
Fredrik Lundh Sammeli, chair of the justice committee in the Swedish National Assembly for the Social Democrats, believes that recruiting Norwegian police officers is the wrong way to go.
“I think the best thing is to focus on how we can get more Swedish young people to apply to the Police Academy,” he said.
Polisförbundet, which corresponds to Politiets Fellesforbund in Norway, emphasized that measures are necessary.
“The police and the government must turn every stone to ensure that we get more police officers in Sweden,” the organization’s leader Lena Nitz wrote on Twitter.
Trade union positive
The Norwegian Police Association in Norway is positive to the proposal, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
“If you can’t work in Norway, it is better to practice your profession in Sweden. And when Norwegian police officers are wanted in Sweden, there is nothing better than that,” union leader Sigve Bolstad told the channel.
According to him, 600 newly trained police officers in Norway don’t get a police job each year.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
