4 ms·

Here in Norway, a police officer is most likely to be shot by... ...a fellow police officer. Police were unarmed until quite recently (however, they did have

by lb1lf 10y ago

Here in Norway, a police officer is most likely to be shot by... ...a fellow police officer. Police were unarmed until quite recently (however, they did have firearms available should need arise, also compulsory training and certification at fixed intervals) When our DoJ decided to arm police due to some perceived terror threat, the number of accidental discharges (unsurprisingly) skyrocketed. The terror never materialised, but several officers today limp after quite literally shooting themselves in the foot.

nraynaud 10y ago
I guess they decided to arm the police after the Breivik attack?
- marvin 10y ago
  No, it actually happened four years later, presumably due to a concrete threat of islamic extremist terrorist attacks, the details of which were never disclosed to the public. To no one's surprise, the decision, which was touted as temporary in the political debate that ensued, is still in effect.
  - kristopolous 10y ago
    See the whole premise that someone can call up some government official and go "booga booga" and actually get a real change in policy while citizens fight for years to be heard really makes me think there's a bit more to the narrative ... It's almost like governments repressing their people is like a little kid looking for an excuse to eat candy.
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      Well it didn't help that the Progress Party, the right wing populists, was in government for the first time ever, and got their boy in the minister of justice chair.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    > is still in effect. Best i can tell it ended in February. But since then it has been up to the individual districts to consider armed patrols based on events abroad.
  - vidarh 10y ago
    I thought it was changed again in February. At least that is what this says [1], unless it has been reintroduced. [1] https://www.politi.no/nyhet_15749.xml https://www.politi.no/nyhet_15749.xml
  - lb1lf 10y ago
    I think (mind, think) it was repealed a few weeks ago, and that Norwegian police is now unarmed unless there's a very specific threat they're responding to. When they were armed, it probably didn't help that they were issued Glocks - on which the safety catch... ...isn't. (The Glock is seemingly designed around the idea that it would be a bigger problem if you intended to fire and the gun didn't than the other way around; hence the abundance of accidental discharges.
TheShark 10y ago
You can't compare Norway -- the oil rich Saudi Arabia of Europe -- to a country the US. Crime doesn't just pop up out of a vacuum. When you've got millions of people getting wrapped up in violent cliques\gangs that are going to be armed to the teeth irregardless of gun regulation (most use stolen weapons) you don't want to go into those environments armed like the French bicycle police.
- DanBC 10y ago
  US police go into every encounter with US citizens armed. Simple traffic stops in low[1] crime areas have armed police. [1] low relative the US. The US is remarkably violent compared to Europe.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    > The US is remarkably violent compared to Europe. Has been heretofore, at any rate. Given the effect of mass immigration on the relative homogeneity of European cultures, and the effect on levels of violence of heterogeneity among incompatible cultures, it'll be interesting to see how things play out over the next few decades.
noinsight 10y ago
In Finland the police are always armed and always(?) have been. Yet, iirc, they discharged their weapons a total of 6 times in 2014. They also carry pepper spray, batons and tasers and are trained to use the appropriate amount of force in any given situation after trying to de-escalate instead of just shooting first. If they have to shoot, they go for the legs. I have zero issue with them being armed.

by lb1lf 10y ago

nraynaud 10y ago

I guess they decided to arm the police after the Breivik attack?

marvin 10y ago
No, it actually happened four years later, presumably due to a concrete threat of islamic extremist terrorist attacks, the details of which were never disclosed to the public. To no one's surprise, the decision, which was touted as temporary in the political debate that ensued, is still in effect.
- kristopolous 10y ago
  See the whole premise that someone can call up some government official and go "booga booga" and actually get a real change in policy while citizens fight for years to be heard really makes me think there's a bit more to the narrative ... It's almost like governments repressing their people is like a little kid looking for an excuse to eat candy.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Well it didn't help that the Progress Party, the right wing populists, was in government for the first time ever, and got their boy in the minister of justice chair.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  > is still in effect. Best i can tell it ended in February. But since then it has been up to the individual districts to consider armed patrols based on events abroad.
- vidarh 10y ago
  I thought it was changed again in February. At least that is what this says [1], unless it has been reintroduced. [1] https://www.politi.no/nyhet_15749.xml https://www.politi.no/nyhet_15749.xml
- lb1lf 10y ago
  I think (mind, think) it was repealed a few weeks ago, and that Norwegian police is now unarmed unless there's a very specific threat they're responding to. When they were armed, it probably didn't help that they were issued Glocks - on which the safety catch... ...isn't. (The Glock is seemingly designed around the idea that it would be a bigger problem if you intended to fire and the gun didn't than the other way around; hence the abundance of accidental discharges.

TheShark 10y ago

You can't compare Norway -- the oil rich Saudi Arabia of Europe -- to a country the US. Crime doesn't just pop up out of a vacuum. When you've got millions of people getting wrapped up in violent cliques\gangs that are going to be armed to the teeth irregardless of gun regulation (most use stolen weapons) you don't want to go into those environments armed like the French bicycle police.

DanBC 10y ago
US police go into every encounter with US citizens armed. Simple traffic stops in low[1] crime areas have armed police. [1] low relative the US. The US is remarkably violent compared to Europe.
- throwanem 10y ago
  > The US is remarkably violent compared to Europe. Has been heretofore, at any rate. Given the effect of mass immigration on the relative homogeneity of European cultures, and the effect on levels of violence of heterogeneity among incompatible cultures, it'll be interesting to see how things play out over the next few decades.

noinsight 10y ago

In Finland the police are always armed and always(?) have been. Yet, iirc, they discharged their weapons a total of 6 times in 2014. They also carry pepper spray, batons and tasers and are trained to use the appropriate amount of force in any given situation after trying to de-escalate instead of just shooting first. If they have to shoot, they go for the legs. I have zero issue with them being armed.