Will employ Norwegian police officers to remedy police shortage in Sweden

The majority in the Swedish parliament want to hire Norwegian police officers to fix the shortage in Sweden. The Swedish Police Association welcomes the proposal.

As early as last year, the Swedish Police Association proposed that the government should investigate the possibilities of strengthening the Swedish police by employing Norwegian police officers.

The proposal is included in the budget proposal of the Christian Democrats, which was presented recently. The party wants Norwegian police officers, after higher education, to be able to get a job in Sweden, according to Swedish radio.

According to the radio channel, a majority in the Riksdag is positive to the proposal. The Liberals, the Center Party, the Swedish Democrats, and the Moderates find the proposal interesting.

– Wrong way

Fredrik Lundh Sammeli, chairman of the Social Democrats’ justice committee in the Swedish National Assembly, believes that recruiting Norwegian police officers is the wrong way to go.

– I think the best thing is to focus on how to get more young Swedes to apply to the Police Academy, he says.

Polisförbundet, which corresponds to Politiets Fellesforbund in Norway, emphasizes that the measures are necessary.

– The police and the government must turn every stone to ensure that we have more police officers in Sweden, writes organization leader Lena Nitz in Twitter.

Union positive

The Norwegian Police Association in Norway is positive about the proposal, writes NRK.

– I think that when you are not allowed to work in Norway, it is better to practice your profession in Sweden. And when you look for the Norwegian police in Sweden, it doesn’t get any better than that, union leader Sigve Bolstad tells the channel.

According to him, 600 newly trained police officers in Norway do not get a job in the police force every year. A round of calls made by the association indicates some interest in such a Swedish solution.