- It should be a small matter

It might change: If the Greens get a majority for the bill, the police must print receipts when they stop someone for control of public spaces. Photo: Tori Christiansen

The Greens won’t wait for the pilot project in Oslo – and on Wednesday put forward a proposal to toughen up routine police checks at the national level. Skeptical right.

Posted:

less than 3 hours ago

If the police conduct a random check on you in a public place, it is reasonable to expect that the matter can be investigated, says Farid Shariati, a spokesman for social policy for the Green Party (MDG).

On Wednesday, fellow MDG health policy spokesperson Christopher Robin Hogg introduced a new bill in Parliament.

Here, they ask “the government to ensure the introduction of a mandatory receipt system that ensures that the receipt is always distributed to persons subject to personal examinations under the supervision of the police and customs authorities.”

Requirements: Farid Shariati, a social policy spokesman for the Green Party (MDG), wants the police to print a receipt for everyone they control. In this way, the controls can be followed. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB

The bill comes shortly after Aftenposten wrote that Oslo City Council wanted it A pilot project with a police receipt system. It requires the police to print a receipt showing, among other things, the time, place, type of check and the service number of the police officer who stopped you.

But there is no reason to wait for this to be tested in Oslo, Shariati says. He believes it should be implemented nationally – and as quickly as possible.

– It should be a really small matter. And it doesn’t even need an amendment in law, it can only happen through regulations, he points out.

Police are open to the scheme

Shariati thinks it is a problem that much of what the police do today cannot be verified.

The Receipt System is an important tool for ensuring the professional development of the police. If the police are to be able to develop professionally, one must be able to expect them to have a certain overview of the work they do and what its impact is, says the MDG man and points out:

– This will give the police a chance to determine who they stop most often.

Read also: A major weapons search in Oslo: Six were taken with a knife

Positive: Police Chief Benedict Björnland is open to the police for recording personal checks. Photo: Frederic Hagen

This fall, Police Director Benedict Björnland opened the registry for personal checks that ensured accurate verification could be made to the police. In the past, many policemen criticized the scheme, among others Police Association Commander, Sejv Polstad.

In a recent press release, Writes Police said they are positive about introducing the scheme as part of their work to boost their confidence in meeting minorities in the community.

Trust is something we must earn every day, and police must act with integrity and respect towards all groups of society, Police Director Benedict Björnland says in a statement.

The take-up scheme was first proposed in 1995

There has been debate for years about whether young people belonging to a minority are more screened than others by the police – and there is a lot of debate about what to do about it.

MDG-Shariati is unsure who will support the bill, but notes that it has been brought up for discussion by several parties many times over the years.

The first proposal for a takeover system came as early as 1995 from the then chairperson of the Parliament’s Justice Committee. At that time, it was proposed to introduce a receipt system for people of foreign appearance who are stopped in a public place for control.

Says yes: Oslo City Council member Raymond Johansen (Labour) will test Oslo’s pick-up system. Photo: Gisele Odstad

The 1995 proposal was never realized, but in June 2002 a majority consisting of the Labor Party (Labour), the Party of Progress (FRP) and the Socialist Left Party (SV) asked the government to submit a proposal for a takeover plan.

However, it was canceled when FRP made a full turn and withdrew the support.

Although the takeover scheme has not yet received political support through a majority in Parliament, the Public Anti-Discrimination Organization (OMOD), among others, has continued to work hard to prepare the proposal and run it.

-This is especially important for those with a minority background, who believe they are screened too often on the basis of skin color, Shariati says.

Right: Skeptical about the scheme

Overall, I’m not sure if this is the right way to go, says Conservative Justice Policy spokesperson Svenong Stensland to VG.

At the same time, he does not immediately reject the proposal:

If the government can provide a professional justification for the receiving system, the governors must evaluate the information as in all other cases.

See also Mourning room in the church

Unbelievable: Conservative Justice Policy spokesperson Svenong Steinsland says the Norwegian police have a high level of trust in the population and must work constantly to ensure that trust is high: – But I don’t believe in a pick-up scheme as a tool here. Photo: Matisse Sandblad

Stensland believes that the scheme appears to be a thorough and imprecise procedure, which will lead to more bureaucracy and incorrect use of time. He also believes that there is not much to suggest that the police generally control the population.

– It’s as simple as the police having to follow up on what the attorney general said. It’s not okay to stop people completely without further ado. He continues: There must be good reason to be suspicious.

He says he thus encounters the controversy over the receiving system as “too weird”.

Those who support, argue with racial profiling and somewhat systematic racism. We have no indication that it happened in Norway. If the police were looking for a white man of size 1.82 from Haugesund, it wouldn’t be unnatural to stop me, for example. You have to deal with that.