Norwegian Police Service
The Norwegian Police Service is the Norwegian national civilian police agency. The service dates to the 13th century when the first sheriffs were appointed, with the current structure established in 2003. It comprises a central National Police Directorate, seven specialty agencies and twelve police districts. The government agency is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and has 16,000 employees, of which 8,000 are police officers. In addition to police powers, the service is responsible for border control, certain civil duties, coordinating search and rescue operations, counterterrorism, highway patrolling, writ of execution, criminal investigation and prosecution. The directorate is led by the National Police Commissioner.
Each police district is led by a chief of police and is subdivided into several police stations in towns and cities, and sheriffs' offices for rural areas. The Governor of Svalbard acts as chief of police for Svalbard. As of July 1, 2025, Norwegian police officers are generally armed while on duty, following a parliamentary decision in June 2025 to amend the Police Act. Prior to this, officers typically did not carry firearms, but kept weapons secured in patrol vehicles. The Norwegian Prosecuting Authority is partially integrated with the police.
Specialist agencies within the services include the National Criminal Investigation Service, the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, the National Police Immigration Service, the National Mobile Police Service, the Norwegian Border Commissioner, the National Police Computing and Material Service and the Norwegian Police University College. Several other national responsibilities are under the command of Oslo Police District, such as the police tactical unit Delta and the two police helicopters. The Police Security Service is separate from the National Police Directorate.
History
The police force in Norway was established during the 13th century. Originally the 60 to 80 sheriffs were predominantly used for writ of execution and to a less degree police power. In the cities the duties were originally taken care of by a gjaldker. The sheriffs were originally subordinate to the sysselmann, but from the 14th century they instead became subordinate to the bailiff and the number of sheriffs increased. In the cities the police authority was transferred directly to the bailiff. By the mid-17th century there were between 300 and 350 sheriffs. With the introduction of the absolute monarchy in 1660 and subsequent strengthening of the civil service, the importance of the police increased. The bailiffs as such became part of the police structure, with their superiors, the county governor, receiving a similar role as that of chief of police. The first titled chief of police was hired in Trondheim in 1686, thus creating the first police district, although his jurisdiction only covered the city proper. Chiefs of police were hired in Bergen in 1692, Christiania in 1744 and Christianssand in 1776.From the 19th century, deputies were hired in larger areas to assist the sheriffs. Following the democratization in 1814, the Ministry of Justice was created in 1818 and has since had the primary responsibility for organizing the police force. The 19th century saw a large increase in the number of chiefs of police, reaching sixteen by the middle of the century. Christiania established the country's first uniformed corps of constables in 1859, which gave the force a more unified appearance. Similar structures were soon introduced in many other cities. From 1859 the municipalities would finance the wages of the deputies and constables, which made it difficult for the police to use those forces outside the municipal borders. The first organized education of police officers started in Christiania in 1889.
In 1894 the authorities decided to abolish the position of bailiff and it was decided that some of its tasks would be transferred to the sheriffs. This resulted in 26 new chief of police positions, largely corresponding to the old bailiwicks. Some received jurisdiction over both cities and rural areas, other just rural areas. At the same time the existing police districts were expanded to include the surrounding rural areas. However, the individual bailiff were not removed from office until their natural retirement, leaving some bailiwick in place until 1919. The reform eliminated the difference between the rural and city police forces; yet the sheriffs were only subordinate to the chief of police in police matters—in civil matters and administration they remained under the county governors.
File:Police students, Storberget and Gjengedal patrolling.jpg|thumb|upright|Police students, Minister of Justice and the Police Knut Storberget and Oslo Chief of Police Anstein Gjengedal in 2008
The police school was established in 1920 and the Governor of Svalbard was created in 1925. To increase the police force's flexibility, the municipal funding was cut and replaced with state funding in 1937. That year also saw the first two specialty agencies were created, the Police Surveillance Agency and the Mobile Police Service. After a border agreement was reached between Norway and the Soviet Union in 1949, the Norwegian Border Commission was established the following year. The Criminal Investigation Service was established in 1959, and the search and rescue system with two joint coordination centers and sub-centers for each police district was created in 1970.
The number of police districts was nearly constant from 1894 to 2002, although a few have been creased and closed. However, the organization in the various police districts varied considerably, especially in the cities. In particular, some cities had their civilian responsibilities taken care of by the municipality. This was confusing for the public, resulting in the police services reorganizing to a homogeneous organization during the 1980s, whereby the civil tasks being organized as part of the police stations. Økokrim was established in 1988 and in 1994 the administrative responsibilities for the sheriff's offices was transferred to police districts. Only once has the order to shoot to kill been issued, during the Torp hostage crisis in 1994. The police school became a university college in 1993 and introduced a three-year education; in 1998 a second campus opened in Bodø. Police Reform 2000 was a major restructuring of the police force. First the National Police Directorate was created in 2001, and from 2003 the number of police districts were reduced from 54 to 27. The Police Computing and Material Service and the Criminal Investigation Service were both established in 2004. Ten police officers have been killed in service since 1945. The Gjørv Report following the 2011 Norway attacks criticized several aspects of the police force, labeling the work as "unacceptable". National Commissioner Øystein Mæland withdrew following the criticism, in part because an internal report of the attacks had not found any criticism of the police force.
Arming
On 12 June 2025, a majority in the Storting voted to introduce general arming of the Norwegian police. The decision was based on a government proposal to amend the Police Act, allowing officers to carry firearms during routine duties. The Norwegian Police Directorate was given the authority to determine whether – and to what extent – the police should be armed. The policy of routine arming officially came into effect on 1 July 2025.Previously, Norwegian police officers were typically unarmed during daily service, although firearms have been stored in patrol vehicles. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has announced that a proposal for permanent rules on general arming will be drafted and submitted for consultation. The police have advocated for such a system for several years, arguing that it will improve preparedness for serious and unforeseen incidents.
Structure
The National Police Directorate, located in Downtown Oslo, is the central administration for the Norwegian Police Service. It conducts management and supervision of the specialist agencies and police districts, including organizational development and support activities. The directorate is led by the National Police Commissioner, who, since 2012, has been Odd Reidar Humlegård. The National Criminal Investigation Service is a national unit which works with organized and serious crime. It both works as an assistant unit for police districts, with special focus on technical and tactical investigation, in addition to being responsible on its own for organized crime. It acts as the center for international police cooperation, including participation in Interpol and Europol. The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime is responsible for complex cases of economic crime and acts as a public prosecutor for those cases. The National Police Immigration Service registers and identifies asylum seekers and returns those which have their applications rejected. The National Mobile Police Service is based in Stavern and operates throughout the country. Their primary role is as highway patrol and manages the police reserves, although they also assist police districts in extraordinary events where extra manpower is needed or where they are in the vicinity.The Norwegian Border Commissioner is located in Kirkenes and is responsible for managing the Norway–Russia border and upholding the border agreement. Special consideration is needed as it is the only non-Schengen Area land border of Norway. Border controls are the responsibility of the respective police district. The National Police Computing and Material Service is responsible for managing the police's information and communications technology, procurement, security and real estate. Norway has two joint rescue coordination centers, one for Northern Norway located in Bodø and on one for Southern Norway located in Sola. Their jurisdiction border goes at the 65th parallel north. Organizationally they are directly subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and the Police, although their operations are subordinate to the chiefs of police in Salten and Rogaland, respectively. The Police Security Service is Norway's security agency; although considered a law enforcement agency, it is not subordinate to the National Police Directorate nor part of the Norwegian Police Service.
Metropolitan Norway is divided into 27 police districts. Each district is further subdivided into local police stations and rural police districts, the latter led by a sheriff. Each police district is headquartered at a main police station and is led by a chief of police. Police districts hold a common pool of resources and personnel and have a common administration and budget. Each also has a joint operations center which also acts as an emergency call center for 112. Many of the larger districts have their own execution and enforcement authority, while this in integrated in the smaller districts. The size of the police districts varies, from Oslo with 2,500 employees and covering a population of 570,000 to Eastern Finnmark which has 160 employees and 30,000 residents.
File:Norwegian Police Boat.jpg|thumb|left|Water police mission near Drøbak in the Oslofjord
Each districts has specially-trained mobile units for armed and other challenging missions, and dog units for narcotics and search and rescue missions. The police districts also have police boats for coastal waters and selected lakes, with focus on driving under the influence, speeding and environmental monitoring. In Troms and Finnmark, the Reindeer Police are responsible for monitoring and supervising reindeer husbandry and environmental supervision. As of 2009 there were 301 rural police districts, 68 local police stations and 10 execution and enforcement authorities.
Oslo Police District has a series of special divisions and task forces which provide aid to all other police districts when necessary. It is responsible for the two police helicopters, which is mostly used for traffic motoring, search and rescue and apprehension. The tactical unit Delta is for terrorism, sabotage and hostage incidents, which is separate from the crisis and hostage negotiation service. Oslo's dog patrol service includes the national bomb squad. The departments further has a mobile deployment squad against demonstrations and riots, a Police Negotiation Unit for use against barricades and kidnapping, a mounted police, and the responsibility for protecting high-ranking government and royal officials.
Svalbard is not part of the regular police districts—instead its law enforcement is handled by the Governor of Svalbard, who holds the responsibility as both county governor and chief of police, as well as other authority granted by the executive branch. Duties include environmental policy, family law, law enforcement, search and rescue, tourism management, information services, contact with foreign settlements, and adjudication in some areas of maritime inquiries and judicial examinations—albeit never in the same cases as acting as police. Jan Mayen is subordinate to Salten Police District.