When one reads that “several people with immigrant backgrounds, reduced functional ability and gaps in their CVs have got jobs in the police”, there is one question that is not asked: Are the appointments for the sake of the minorities, or so that the police shall become better? Do they add competence to the police, or are the appointments so that the leadership shall get gold stars in the book? Most important of all: Can one trust them?
In the annual report the police emphasise that employees with minority backgrounds contribute experience, cultural and linguistic competence that the service needs in order to solve its tasks.
It sounds beautiful, but that is also how they spoke in the old Soviet Union. There it was the facade that counted. The political leadership has decided that the police too shall have minorities. Is it employment we are talking about?
Now we are moving towards some more unpleasant questions: Minorities with gaps in their CVs raise eyebrows. Have they been inside or been idle? Both raise security concerns.
Is facade thinking transferred to the treatment of applicants so that one does not know what employees have been up to? Dare one ask? Dare one dig? The police and the politicians traditionally show caution towards immigrants. Can we trust that one does not employ people who may constitute a security risk to others?
From Sweden it is known that organised criminals ensure they place their people on the inside of the police. Does the Norwegian police take this risk into account?
What about leaks? We are not unfamiliar with that. Criminals have found out how far the police have come in investigations. Or information can be used internally in clan environments.
Criminals have infiltrated the financial sector. There have been many cases of loans on shaky grounds.
Does the police take into account that those who wish to infiltrate probably present spotless records?
While 121 people with minority backgrounds got jobs in the service in 2024, the number rose to 139 last year, shows the police’s annual report «Diversity and Equality» for 2025, writes Politiforum.
The figures for reduced functional ability rose from 12 to 15, while there was an increase among those with gaps in their CVs from 4 to 6.
Section chief Kjersti Jørgensen in the Police Directorate (POD) says it is difficult to point to one single cause for the increase, and says the numbers vary over time.
She highlights several possible explanations, among others more qualified applicants, profiling on social media and a broader understanding of the need for varied competence.
«It is a goal for the police to recruit more employees with minority backgrounds, both to the Police University College and to civilian positions. This is a long-term effort that is followed up over time and which has significant development potential», the report states. (NTB)