65° - 01.11.1969, Page 15

probably be laughed at, for we Icelanders don’t
take a gun threat seriously — it seems so unreal.
Q. There have been many complaints about prob-
lem drinking in Iceland. Is the group arrested for
drunkenness proportionately large for this com-
munity ?
A. Well, compared with Scandinavia, we have a
larger number than Denmark. Most drinkers here
are habitual offenders and so far we have not
hospitals enough for them. In 1962 we kept more
than 8000 such people overnight. In 1968 we had
only 6000 because many of the chronic drinkers
stay for periods at various health resorts or nur-
sing homes for alcoholics. In the winter, many of
these people have no place to live. Not all of them
are drunks, but most are ex-drunks. An overnight
shelter for such homeless people is opening now
in late October. It will shelter sixteen people and
is financed by the city of Reykjavik, although
the inmates won’t be all from Reykjavik.
Q. Isn’t that similar to what the Salvation Army
offers ?
A. No, they are open days, more on a hotel basis.
Ours will just provide a place to sleep at night to
keep people off the streets. The winter nights can
be hard.
Q. What are the ages of alcoholic offenders?
A. Young people 17—24 are often repeated of-
fenders. It seems that when they begin to drink
they overdo for some time until they have either
established their tolerance point or become chron-
ic drinkers. The chronic drinkers are from 35—
60. Generally they don’t grow older.
Q. Are most crimes of physical assault done while
under the influence of alcohol?
A. All of them, even theft and burglary. We don’t
have any professionals in that respect.
Q. How serious is drug traffic?
A. This is under investigation now so I can’t say
much, but there was no drug problem at all some
years ago. It has since increased and the drugs are
being brought in by our own countrymen and
indulged in as a pop-idol fad rather than for the
reasons existing in larger countries. Aside from
the 1923 law against opium, there is no narcotics
law, but the question is now up for discussion in
the Althing and we await a clear definition. There
is a drug law, however, but the question is to
differentiate between drugs and narcotics. Nar-
cotics offenders are ages 16—24. We hope the
number won’t increse, but it probably will for
some time.
Q. What is a policeman’s salary?
A. Too little.
Q. Seriously.
A. It starts at Kr. 14,000 a month and can go up
to 17 or 18,000 depending on seniority and extras.
(U.S.Sl.OO = Kr. 88). A man can earn 2—
3000 extra a month through night duty and more
for overtime. There is a shortage of good police-
men, though. We needed 15 men for our police
school; 40 applied, but only 8 were chosen.
Q. What is a good policeman?
A. He must have high school education or the
equivalent, no criminal record, be 178 cm. tall. . .
Q. Why 178 cm.?
A. He has to be able to see over the crowds. Also,
though the are trained in judo, there is a psycho-
logical advantage just in the spectacle of a tall
policeman. This is even more important since
Icelandic police carry neither guns nor sticks.
We feel that if we use guns, we may start some-
thing undesireable. But to continue: our trainees
must be good natured and physically strong, have
good eyesight, not wear glasses and be in good
health. For the first two years they are on a tem-
porary basis and attend school for an initial two
weeks and then for another 18 weeks before
graduation. If they pass their exam, they are put
on a fixed salary.
Q. Are they ever fired ?
A. For repeated misbehaviour they are fired. This
has happened several times.
Q. What about the “summer police”?
A. They are not regulars. We hire vacation re-
placements mostly in a traffic capacity. First they
were teachers but in the last four years we’ve had
law, medical and clergymen students from the
University. They are a nice group and it’s a very
good school for them. They say the experience
has been invaluable and that as a result, laws
are more lenient. A reporter from Germany was
fascinated last year by our method of using stu-
dents to restrain students.
Q. Are there many police casualties?
A. We’ve had two motorcycle deaths and some
men are hurt while performing arrests or rescue.
People are always falling into the harbor, and
policemen are often the first arrivals at a fire.
Q. Do politics influence the police more here than
in other countries?
A. Very much less. The men on the force are from
all parties.
Q. Do influential people escape arrest?
A. No. Diplomatic people enjoy immunity inter-
nationally of course, and our Althing ministers
65 DEGREES
13