Norwegian police to stay armed until February
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Published: 9 Dec, 2015 CET.
Updated: Wed 9 Dec 2015 11:51 CET
Norwegian police will bear weapons for at least an additional eight week, the Police Directorate announced on Wednesday.
The Police Directorate said that officers would carry weapons through February 3rd as the national security situation remains “unclear and unresolved” in the aftermath of last month’s terror attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.
Just hours before the Paris attacks on November 13th, the Police Directorate had announced a plan to end a temporary order given in November 2014 for police to carry pistols on their service belts. Three days later, it was decided that police would continue to carry their service weapons until December.
In its latest decision to extend the deadline again, the Police Directorate said that “the measures can be changed during this period”.
Justice Minister Anders Anundsen stressed that, for now, an armed police force is still seen as a temporary measure.
“We are in a rather special situation because the threat level has not been directly altered since October but there are many uncertainties surrounding this,” he told broadcaster NRK.
The Norwegian Police Federation (Politiets Fellesforbund) has requested that police be permanently armed and Anundsen has appointed a committee to consider the request.
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The Police Directorate said that officers would carry weapons through February 3rd as the national security situation remains “unclear and unresolved” in the aftermath of last month’s terror attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.
Just hours before the Paris attacks on November 13th, the Police Directorate had announced a plan to end a temporary order given in November 2014 for police to carry pistols on their service belts. Three days later, it was decided that police would continue to carry their service weapons until December.
In its latest decision to extend the deadline again, the Police Directorate said that “the measures can be changed during this period”.
Justice Minister Anders Anundsen stressed that, for now, an armed police force is still seen as a temporary measure.
“We are in a rather special situation because the threat level has not been directly altered since October but there are many uncertainties surrounding this,” he told broadcaster NRK.
The Norwegian Police Federation (Politiets Fellesforbund) has requested that police be permanently armed and Anundsen has appointed a committee to consider the request.
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