At the weekend, a 20-year-old was shot at a kebab shop in Greenland. This is the latest in a series of shootings in public spaces in Oslo recently. Unfortunately, this is the expression of a dangerous development.
Oslo is essentially a safe city, but in some areas the situation is worrying. This particularly applies to Greenland, where there have been several attempted murders in public places and criminal networks operate openly.
Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) and Labor Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) invited to a press conference on Tuesday together with police chief Ida Melbo Øystese in Oslo to show that they are now taking the problems seriously.
It is embarrassing for the government that the number of employees in the Oslo police district has decreased, while at the same time the development of crime has gone in the wrong direction. The fact that many newly graduated police officers are without a job is pointless in this situation.
Now the government is announcing more money in the revised national budget.
Hopefully the measures the police are now taking will work. Among other things, they must focus more on the areas where the crime statistics are worst.
A significant proportion of those who live in Greenland, Mortensrud and Furuset now feel unsafe, according to a survey the police themselves presented on Tuesday. It is not surprising, given the gloomy picture the police themselves paint of crime in these areas. The residents there must regain the feeling of security in the neighbourhood.
In the same districts, trust in the police is also low, partly because the police are not very visible and because nothing is done about visible crime. It also appears that some refrain from reporting because they fear reprisals.
This development must be reversed.
Failure to control crime can obviously cause problems for the government in the run-up to the next election. The opposition is doing its job when they press the government on this point.
The most basic task politicians have is to give the population security. The government is in danger of missing out on that task now.
Opening police offices in areas where crime is lowest appears to be an increasingly poor priority. But it’s not too late to turn around.
Although the problem of criminal networks, serious violence in public spaces and open drug sales is greatest in a handful of districts in Oslo, the development is disturbing in many parts of the country. Youth crime is increasing around the country.
In the West police district, it has increased by as much as 40 per cent, and it is particularly worrying that there is more violence among very young people.
Unfortunately, the problem is far greater than the fact that some areas in Oslo have gotten out of control. When crime is to be fought, the police’s efforts are obviously the most important. But it is equally obvious that it is not sufficient when it is very young people who break the law.
Hear more about the violence in Oslo in today’s Giæver og gengen.
