From this year’s cohort at the Police College, there were 356 students who became police officers. A high proportion of them have obtained a position in the police, which pleases Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp).
– The government has worked purposefully for an increased budget and more positions in the police after demanding years of war and high price growth. Of this year’s graduating students who passed their final exam, 319 got jobs as police officers, a whopping 90 per cent of the cohort. We need our police officers to ensure safety in Norway, she tells NTB.
In fact, the proportion in work at the end of September is the highest in ten years since the police started reporting the figures.
Fewer students
This year’s number of graduates is the second lowest in the last five cohorts. With 356 graduates, it marginally beats last year’s cohort, but it is still over 300 fewer than the cohort from 2020.
Mehl says gang package 1, which the government presented in May, was designed, among other things, to get the police students into work.
She believes that the effect of this can now be seen through the high proportion of employees.
– New gang package 2 for 2025 will give the police and the police prosecutor’s office NOK 2.4 billion for police officers, basic funding and the fight against criminal networks, says the Minister of Justice.
Works for several permanent positions
Although the number of students at the Police College has decreased, they have not been able to offer many permanent positions. Five years ago, 95 per cent of those who graduated had a permanent job in the police by the end of September. In 2024, the number is 7 percent.
Mehl explains part of the large differences in the figures with the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine. This led to extraordinary employment in the police in the form of border control and registration of Ukrainian refugees.
– If we compare with the previous government from the Conservative Party, before the pandemic and Ukraine, we see that this is an increase of 70 percentage points compared to 30 September 2020. The Center Party and the Labor Party in government have prioritized the police in all our budgets, says Mehl.
One of the priorities going forward will be more permanent jobs.
– Society needs more skilled and committed police officers. In the government’s proposal for the state budget for 2025, we propose to strengthen the police with NOK 2.4 billion for next year, among other things to get more police officers out on the streets, says Mehl.
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