Norway: 'Our Youth'
An article which appeared in Klassekampen, a Norwegian communist newspaper. (h/t R.)
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"Very many were there not for the issue itself, but to show that they're protesting against the authorities. It was a giant awakening. Not just for the police, but for many others," says police director Ingelin Killengreen to Klassekampen.
In an article in today's paper she writes that "the reactions and the debate after the riots are a good starting point for the police as a bridge-builder. We will set limits and enforce the law, but we will also guide, understand and be in dialog with all parts of the population."
The police still have meetings with the youth [together with their parents] who were brought in during the demonstrations in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip. Killengreen hasn't yet received a summary of how the meetings have gone, but says she has experience from similar projects in the past. This is actually a model which is implemented throughout the country, and which she strongly believes in.
"You find out what is the problem, and what is the challenge. In many of these cases we observe parents who are absolutely hopeless. They haven't understood this role of the youth, which splits between two cultures, says Killengreen, who thinks something constructive will come of this and stresses that it's a collective effort coordinated with the school and child's welfare department.
"We're not speaking of criminal youth, but of people who seek how they can be integrated in a sensible way so as to become successful citizens, since they certainly want it," says Killengreen.
She calls them 'our youth'
"In a few years time, they will become more and more of our youth. We have a staffing project "The police facing 2020" where the main challenge is that the makeup of the population will be completely different in 2020 than today. We must do something completely different with the police in future years, both due to immigration and because that part of the population has more children. It's the immigrant youth who will be our youth in the future," she says.
The police's population survey for 2008 shows that 83% have high confidence in the police, but Killengreen doesn't want to be content with that. The same survey shows that the trust among minority youth is lower than by the rest of the population. The police director promises zero-tolerance against racism. She says that the police have a project underway which will create confidence and trust for all who come in contact with the police - regardless of skin color, ethnicity and gender.
- Is there something you [the police] are self critical about?
"We haven't been good enough in cultural understanding. We lack knowledge about the many different types of people who come here to [Norway], who live here in the country and will be here."
- What will you do?
"First and foremost we will recruit more with minority background to the police. If we have more representatives with immigrant background in the police, the immigrant population will also see that the police are there for them. The second is that we must increase knowledge and the third, which I think is extremely important is that we, to a much larger degree than before, must explain what we're doing and why we're doing it," says Killengreen, referring to the so-called 'stop and check' situations. Many thought they were stopped because they had a non-Western background, but the reason might be different.
Source: Klassekampen (Norwegian)
An article which appeared in Klassekampen, a Norwegian communist newspaper. (h/t R.)
-------------
"Very many were there not for the issue itself, but to show that they're protesting against the authorities. It was a giant awakening. Not just for the police, but for many others," says police director Ingelin Killengreen to Klassekampen.
In an article in today's paper she writes that "the reactions and the debate after the riots are a good starting point for the police as a bridge-builder. We will set limits and enforce the law, but we will also guide, understand and be in dialog with all parts of the population."
The police still have meetings with the youth [together with their parents] who were brought in during the demonstrations in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip. Killengreen hasn't yet received a summary of how the meetings have gone, but says she has experience from similar projects in the past. This is actually a model which is implemented throughout the country, and which she strongly believes in.
"You find out what is the problem, and what is the challenge. In many of these cases we observe parents who are absolutely hopeless. They haven't understood this role of the youth, which splits between two cultures, says Killengreen, who thinks something constructive will come of this and stresses that it's a collective effort coordinated with the school and child's welfare department.
"We're not speaking of criminal youth, but of people who seek how they can be integrated in a sensible way so as to become successful citizens, since they certainly want it," says Killengreen.
She calls them 'our youth'
"In a few years time, they will become more and more of our youth. We have a staffing project "The police facing 2020" where the main challenge is that the makeup of the population will be completely different in 2020 than today. We must do something completely different with the police in future years, both due to immigration and because that part of the population has more children. It's the immigrant youth who will be our youth in the future," she says.
The police's population survey for 2008 shows that 83% have high confidence in the police, but Killengreen doesn't want to be content with that. The same survey shows that the trust among minority youth is lower than by the rest of the population. The police director promises zero-tolerance against racism. She says that the police have a project underway which will create confidence and trust for all who come in contact with the police - regardless of skin color, ethnicity and gender.
- Is there something you [the police] are self critical about?
"We haven't been good enough in cultural understanding. We lack knowledge about the many different types of people who come here to [Norway], who live here in the country and will be here."
- What will you do?
"First and foremost we will recruit more with minority background to the police. If we have more representatives with immigrant background in the police, the immigrant population will also see that the police are there for them. The second is that we must increase knowledge and the third, which I think is extremely important is that we, to a much larger degree than before, must explain what we're doing and why we're doing it," says Killengreen, referring to the so-called 'stop and check' situations. Many thought they were stopped because they had a non-Western background, but the reason might be different.
Source: Klassekampen (Norwegian)
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