Swedish Police Service

The Swedish Police Service (in Swedish: "Polisen") is a collection of Government agency concerned with police matters in Sweden.The Swedish police force consists of 23,940 employees (2005).17,073 police officersand 6,867 civilian staff. (2005)

It consists of the National Police Board, a national agency, responsible for matters at a national level, and 21 independantly overseen local police agencies.

National Police Board

Infobox Law enforcement agency
agencyname = National Police Board
nativename = Rikspolisstyrelsen
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abbreviation = NPB
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logocaption = Coat of arms of the Swedish National Police Board
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country = Sweden
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national = Yes


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chief1name = Stefan Strömberg
chief1position = National Police Commissioner
parentagency =
child1agency = Statens kriminaltekniska laboratorium (Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science)
child2agency = National Police Academy
unittype = Department
unitname = collapsible list |title=2 |SÄPO |Rikskriminalpolisen (RKP) (National Criminal Investigation Department)
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website = [http://www.polisen.se/inter/nodeid=10230&pageversion=1.html http://www.polisen.se]
footnotes =
reference = The Swedish National Police Board ("Rikspolisstyrelsen") is the central administrative and supervisory authority of the police service. It is also the supervisory authority of the National Laboratory of Forensic Science. The NPB is headed by the National Police Commissioner who is appointed by the government. The current National Police Commissioner is Stefan Strömberg. Among other things, the NPB is responsible for the development of new work methods and technological support. It is also - through the National Police Academy - responsible for the training of police officers.

The National Police Board consists of two departments:
*The National Criminal Investigation Department, "RKP" (rikskriminalpolisen).
**Terrorism, mafia, ethnic gangs, Missing persons etc.
**Host the national response team called "National task force" or Nationella insatsstyrkan
**Host investigation agents
*SÄPO, or "Säkerhetspolisen", the Swedish Security Service
**Host bodyguard agents
**Counter terrorism
**National security

It is also the principal agency for the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science.

County Police Departments

In each of the 21 Counties of Sweden there is a separate County Police Department, which is headed by a County Police Commissioner. The principal agency for each of the departments is the respective County Police Authority, consisting of local politicians and the commissioner. The Commissioners and the members of the authority are all appointed by the Government of Sweden.

The County Police Commissioners report to the Government of Sweden, not to the National Police Board and by this it may seem that the National Police Board is not actually involved in the county police matters. However, even if the County Police Departments is not formally subject the National Police Board, it is still the central administrative agency for them and in practice this gives it substantial influence. A parallel to this is also seen in the relationship between the Judicial system of Sweden and the Swedish National Courts Administration.

Before 1998, the County Police Departments were supervised by the respective County Administrative Boards of Sweden, with the 21 County Governors as the highest authority for the police in each county.

The Swedish police operates a number of helicopters as support units. Tasked mainly with observation and search duties while being stationed in a number of locations in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Östersund and Boden). The type used at present is the Eurocopter EC-135. Bell 206 was widely used earlier but was retired due to age and single-engine considerations (single engine helicopters are restricted from low level hover and slow flight over urban areas).

See also

List of Swedish Police killed in the line of duty

Trivia

* The badge of the Swedish police contains fasces, which is the same symbol that the Italian fascists used. However, as with the swastika, the use of fasces as a symbol predates the 20th century - having originated in the Roman Empire - and is for example used in the coat of arms of France.
* Police in the Schengen countries have a right to cross land borders in order to pursue criminals. [ [http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l33020.htm SCADPlus: The Schengen area and cooperation ] ]
* In 2005, Swedish police cars changed to a blue and fluorescent yellow livery as seen in the picture above (Battenburg markings), from a white and blue one. Most Swedish police cars are either Volvos or Saabs, with the same livery all over Sweden. For most of the 20th century, Swedish police vehicles were painted black and white.

References

External links

* [http://www.polisen.se/inter/nodeid=10230&pageversion=1.html Swedish Police Service]