The Swedish Police of

Today

The Police Prior to 2015

Prior to 2015 the Swedish Police was divided into 21 separate authorities, one for each region, i.e. Län (county). Each Police region was under the command of a County Chief Commissioner (Länspolismästare). The counties (Län) are an administrative regional subdivision of Sweden. A US county is a local subdivision so the US county shouldn’t be compared to the Swedish county. The National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) was the central administrative authority, primarily tasked with coordinating and supporting the local police. The National Police Board was headed by a National Chief of Police or National Chief Commissioner (Rikspolischef) appointed by the government. The police was organized under the Ministry of Justice. Other law enforcement agencies subordinated the National Police board was the Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen), the National Criminal Investigation Department (Rikskrim), the Police Academy and the National Forensic Center (Statens kriminaltekniska laboratorium (SKL)).

The Police Reform of 2015

In 2015 the different police authorities in each region were consolidated into one authority, The Police. The new authority was created to address shortcomings in the division of duties and responsibilities, and to make it easier for the Government to demand greater accountability. The agency is organized into 7 police regions and 8 national departments. With one police agency there was no longer need for a National Police Board which was abolished. The Police are now directly subordinated the National Chief Commissioner (Rikspolischef). Concurrent with this change, the Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen) formed its own agency. The National Operations Department (Nationella operativa avdelningen, NOA) is tasked with assisting the local police regions and is in charge of international police cooperation and all national operations. The department has the power to allocate extra resources, if needed, and has a mandate to initiate nationwide operations and activities. It is also responsible for investigating crimes as prescribed by law to be conducted at the national level, such as corruption and war crimes. Furthermore, it handles all contacts with the Swedish Security Service, Armed Forces and the National Defense Radio Establishment, and manages sensitive information about terrorism and signals intelligence. The National Task Force, NTF (Nationella insatsstyrkan) is a police tactical unit within the National Operations Department of the Swedish Police Authority. The NTF handles extraordinarily difficult or life-threatening criminal situations, such as terrorism and hostage situations. The NTF also conducts intervention tasks in cities too remote for the reinforced regional task forces of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, and too complex for the regional task forces of the non-metropolitan regions to handle. The Swedish National Forensic Center (Nationellt forensiskt centrum, NFC) is a Swedish government agency, organized under Department of Justice as a department of the Swedish Police Authority. It is tasked with assisting the Swedish police in investigating crimes. The Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen, SÄPO) is a Swedish government agency organized under the Ministry of Justice. It operates like a security agency responsible for counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, as well as the protection of dignitaries and the constitution. The Swedish Security Service is also tasked with investigating crimes against national security and terrorist crimes. Its main mission, however, is to prevent crimes, and not to investigate them. Swedish government authorities enjoy a high degree of independence. Neither the Government nor individual ministers have the right to influence how an agency decide in a particular case or on the application of legislation. This also applies to the Swedish police, who instead is governed by general policy instruments, such as laws passed by the Parliament (Riksdagen) and by the appointment of executives.

Police Ranks as of 2015

History of the Swedish

Police

Police Rank Insignias 2015 - Police Chiefs

Police Rank Insignias 2015 - Police Officers

Source References

• Polisen i Stockholm förr och nu av Bengt Järbe, 1975. • Polisväsendet i Stockholm 1776 - 1850 av Nils Staf, 1950. • Din Polis, En orientering om polisväsendet på landsbygden, utgiven av Malmöhus polisförening 1955. • Polisväsendet på landsbygden, Lundgrens förlag Jönköping 1911. • Wikipedia Top of page