Iceland review - 2016, Page 74

72 ICELAND REVIEW
Iceland is repeatedly ranked as one of the safest
countries in the world. With an area of 103,000 km2
(40,000 sq mi) and a population of around 330,000
people, Iceland is also one of the most sparsely-populated
countries in the world. Images on the police’s social media
channels of officers skateboarding, posing with kittens and
reading to children give insight into the lighter aspects of
police work in Iceland. Meanwhile, the country’s police
force, made up of around 650 officers, also faces many of
the serious issues its international counterparts deal with,
like the debate over arming police, human trafficking, hate
crimes, equality in the force and lack of funding. In recent
years, the rapid growth in tourism has also added to the
police’s list of challenges.
Here, Iceland Review asks National Commissioner of the
Icelandic Police Haraldur Johannessen about these issues
and more.
Describe a typical day for police officers in Iceland. How does
their work differ from the work of police officers in countries with
a higher crime rate?
Iceland is a country where people in general can
feel safe. We should be thankful for that. The work of the
police in Iceland is centered on serving the people; hence
the Icelandic word lögregluþjónn, which literally means
‘servant of the law.’ The Icelandic police face exactly the
same challenges as do other police forces, only on a smaller
scale.
National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police Haraldur Johannessen
talks about some of the challenges facing the Icelandic police force.
BY ZOË ROBERT.
PHOTOS BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.
The issue of whether or not police in Iceland should carry guns has
caused heated debate. What is the current state of affairs?
This debate has caused some misunderstanding. No
decision has been made to arm the general police—quite the
contrary; they will remain unarmed. However, the district com-
missioners of the police can, if they so choose, place guns in
closed and specially-made boxes in police vehicles. The guns are
therefore available to police officers, but they have to follow very
strict guidelines and can only access the weapons having asked
for permission and having received a code that is needed in order
to open the boxes containing the weapons. I think it is quite
obvious that in the event police had to use firearms it would,
quite frankly, be unprofessional for the officers involved to have
to drive hundreds of kilometers to the nearest police station in
order to get weapons to be able, on having returned, to put up
an armed response of some kind. You have to keep in mind the
distances and, in some places, quite primitive infrastructure in
terms of roads and access.
What has changed? Why is it now considered essential for general
police officers in Iceland to have easier access to weapons?
In past years the Icelandic police have, on a growing
number of occasions, been forced to be prepared for armed
resistance and the use of weapons. These are cases, for exam-
ple, involving criminals being apprehended, organized crime
and instances where armed individuals have posed a threat to
their surroundings or themselves. Organized crime is a growing
phenomenon in Iceland and it’s a known fact that some of these
OF PISTOLS,
PRIORITIES AND
PROTECTING THE PUBLIC