The end of unarmed policing
Norwegian police have a long tradition of being unarmed on ordinary duty, just one of four European countries that practice this. Since 1 July, those days are over.
Following the country’s security services’ evaluations, which raised concerns over terrorism and general crime, the police themselves argued for easier access to firearms. While a large majority of officers once opposed carrying guns on duty, with only around 20% supporting it in 2011, that number flipped to around 80% in 2017.
This change in police opinion helped push major political parties, many of which had long been against routine armament, to change their stance. The shift hasn’t happened overnight. For over a decade, Norwegian police have been granted temporary access to firearms during special threat situations. These ”temporary armament” periods gradually normalised the armed policing and lowered both the political and public threshold for accepting weapons during ordinary patrols.
This marks a big cultural shift in a country with high trust in the police, where wrongful usage can breach said trust. Just a few days after the law changed, a man was shot by police, though non-lethally. It raised questions about whether other weapons could have been used. And the worry is whether constant access to firearms will lead to more frequent use of them. Judging by the temporary armament a few years ago, increased access to weapons in police missions did lead to increased use of weapons, according to the Norwegian Police Directorate.