Opinion, Commander | Common sense or strict regulations?

In 2020, there were 91 cases of drug crime in the Egersund police district, in 2021 only 38 cases. The drop is due to changing police practices, after the attorney general in April sent a letter to the country’s police district and explained that police had told Dalan Tindi on Monday that no housing or mobile medication should be sought for personal use. The Egersund police district includes the municipalities of Dalan and Serdal.

A new report from the Public Prosecution Office shows that police officers are unsure about parts of the rules regarding the use of coercive measures in less serious drug cases. The report mentions in particular the uncertainty about police access to urine samples to confirm or detect drug use, and the rules for when police can decide to search without contacting the prosecuting authority. All investigations shall pursue a relevant purpose, as measured by what the particular suspicion in the case applies to.

With so much confusion and uncertainty within the police, it is understandable that the number of recorded drug crimes is declining, not just here in the region, but on a national basis. Forfeitures on persons or on individual addresses are trivial in the broader context. Big drug sharks are smarter than that, and often run away.

We believe that the possibility of conducting searches and other investigations should not be more difficult or problematic than is necessary. In order to maintain law and order, the police must have the means to live with, but not be called into question.

The availability of prohibited drugs may not have become more difficult in recent years, and therefore it is important that the police take the necessary investigative steps in the case of a specific suspicion. A criminal should not be a criminal, and the prosecution’s regulations or interpretation of this should not lead to more thugs escaping. There was and still is food for lawyers who defend criminals if the police make mistakes in stops or searches.

As in life otherwise, there must be more room for discretion and common sense than a strict set of rules that ultimately protect major criminals.