More rapes amid russ’ wild partying

Police in western Norway were investigating four reported rapes over the weekend at one of the biggest outdoor events of the “russ” partying season for graduating high school students. Meanwhile, a recent study shows that teenagers from Oslo’s affluent west side drink more and party harder than their peers on the east side. With the annual [...]

Oslo braced for ‘Biebermania’

Canadian singer and teen idol Justin Bieber was heading to Oslo this week for three concerts that have sold around 66,000 tickets and won massive publicity in Norwegian media. Police have been working for months to be better prepared to handle the tens of thousands of screaming young Bieber fans than they were the last [...]

Government tries to tackle terror

The Norwegian government, severely chastened by the lack of effective response to the terrorist attacks on July 22, 2011, rolled out a package of measures on Wednesday aimed at improving disaster preparedness. Not everyone was convinced the new preparedness plan is sufficient. “It’s not usual to approve new funding in March, but now we’re doing [...]

Police forced to release violent man

Police in Haugesund on Norway’s west coast had to release a man from custody on Wednesday even though he’d been charged with rape and wife-beating, and even though a court had ordered him held on fears he’d attack again. The reason: There were no available jail cells in which to detain him. “There aren’t any [...]

Jobs created for police graduates

Complaints over short-staffing within the police, and a lack of jobs for graduates of the state police academy, seemed to vanish this week when the state Police Directorate announced creation of 350 new positions. The new positions will be ready to be filled by this summer. The expansion of police staffing all over Norway means [...]

Anti-terror center in the works

Islamic extremists continue to pose the biggest threat to national security at present, claimed Norway’s police intelligence unit PST (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste) in its annual evaluation. Other extremists on both the right and the left are also a major concern, along with the spying conducted by foreign governments, prompting the government to set up an anti-terror [...]

Right-wing extremist believed behind bomb threat against Parliament

Newspapers VG and Aftenposten and several other Norwegian media outlets were reporting Wednesday afternoon that the man police arrested for making threats against the Norwegian Parliament earlier in the day is an anti-Islamist with ties to the ultra-right organization Norwegian Defence League. Police have confirmed that he has a police record and a history of [...]

Police nab suspect in Storting threats

Police announced shortly after noon that they’d arrested the suspect they were looking for, after he’d made threats against the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) and set off a full terror alarm in Oslo. A major manhunt had continued after two persons apprehended earlier were released. Police said they “had control” over their identified suspect and that [...]

Stortinget under full terror alarm

Heavily armed police cordoned off all streets around the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) early Wednesday and evacuated residents in an eastside neighbourhood during the night, after a man on a bus from Hønefoss to Sandvika made serious threats. They included a threat to blow up the Parliament. The drama began around midnight when other passengers on the [...]

Military boosts terror preparedness

Military bases all over Norway boosted their anti-terror security measures at the end of the week, based on what defense officials call a new  ”general threat evaluation.” They insisted there was nothing “dramatic” behind the higher security levels, while Norwegian media reported it was based on tips that weren’t shared with the police. Military officials [...]

Anti-terror police fends off critics

The head of Norway’s police intelligence unit PST (Politiets Sikkerhetstjeneste) has struck back against a critical report from a commission appointed by the government in the wake of the July 22 terror attacks in 2011, claiming the report includes “unfounded accusations” and factual errors. PST boss Marie Benedicte Bjørnland questioned this week what grounds the [...]

Many survivors of Utøya massacre both disappointed and troubled

Many survivors of the 2011 massacre on the island of Utøya are disappointed that police aren’t taking any action against their own officers who failed to respond quickly enough to the shooting. A new study also shows that around half of those who were wounded or dodged the killer’s bullets are suffering from depression and [...]

Government halts hijab initiative

Norway’s government minister in charge of culture, Hadia Tajik, has been handed a report by a commission recommending that police and judges in Norway be allowed to use religious head coverings, such as a hijab or turban. Tajik immediately made it clear the government would not change its position that currently bans such religious expression. [...]

Borders controlled during EU’s party

Few dispute the need for the high security that will be in place when around 20 European prime ministers and presidents stream into Oslo on Monday, to celebrate the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU). Some are joking over the irony, though, of Norway setting aside EU rules and reinstating border controls, in [...]

New criticism and changes for PST

Norway’s police intelligence unit PST (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste) was the target on Monday of new, sharp criticism from a government-appointed commission set up to evaluate its performance, not least after last year’s terrorist attacks. PST’s management came under fire for being too traditional and failing to detect overall trends regarding threats to national security. The commission [...]

Next Page »