ICELAND

General

Iceland boasts the oldest surviving parliament in the world, the Althing, established in 930. Subsequently this Nordic Island, whose small population has largely depended on fishing and sheep-herding for a living, came under the rule of Norway and then Denmark. It gained home rule in 1874 and full independence in 1944. Literacy, longevity, and social cohesion are topnotch by world standards. Tensions continue with Norway, Russia, and other nearby countries over fishing rights in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas.

History

In the ninth century the island was discovered and inhabitated by Norwegians. Later Iceland came under the influence of Denmark, it became an independent republic in 1944.

Government

The country of Iceland is divided into counties and further divided into towns. The government consists of a president, prime minister, cabinet, general assembly, and a judicial system. There are several political parties and elections are held to identify governmental representatives. The legal system is based on Danish law and is modified to reflect local custom.

Economy

Iceland’s Scandinavian-type economy is basically capitalistic, yet with and extensive welfare system, low unemployment, and remarkably even distribution of income. The economy depends heavily on the fishing industry, which provides 75% of export earnings and employs 12% of the work force. In the absence of other natural resources - except energy - Iceland’s economy is vulnerable to changing world fish prices. The economy remains sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to drops in world prices for its main exports: fish and fish products, aluminium, and ferrosilicon. The centre-right government plans to continue its policies of reducing the budget and current account deficits, limiting foreign borrowing, containing inflation, revising agricultural and fishing policies, diversifying the economy, and privatising state-owned industries. The government remains opposed to EU membership, primarily because of Icelanders’ concern about losing control over their fishing resources. Iceland’s economy has been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, and new developments in software production, biotechnology, and financial services are taking place. The tourism sector is also expanding, with the recent trends in ecotourism and whale-watching.

Police

There is a National Police Commissioner in Iceland. All chiefs are subject directly to the National Police Commissioner who is under the Ministry of Justice. At Keflavik Airport the police chief is subject under the National Police Commissioner and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The police in Iceland are deployed in all rural and urban areas of the country. There are approximately 617 employees who deal with patrol, traffic, and criminal investigation of which 38 are women. Special units include organized crime and narcotics, mobile police unit, and intelligence. There is only one type of police in Iceland, the State Police, having 617 employees, and situated at 35 different police stations in 26 police districts.

The police in Iceland are not armed except with a small baton or truncheon, but in cases of violence and riots, they are permitted to use long handled sticks which are more effective. Only in dangerous or hazardous assignments are they permitted to use fire-arms and teargas.

History

The police in Iceland was a municipal service until 1972. Pursuant to the Police Act nr. 56/1972 m the police in Iceland has been organized as a State service since January 1st 1972, subject to and maintained by the General Government. At the same time the State took over the costs of the police. Individual policemen had the choice to become state employees until December 31st 1973. Only two policemen in the whole country decided to take their leave, all others chose to become state employees.

Government responsibility for the police rests with the Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs. There is one exception; the responsibility of the police in Keflavik Airport rests with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Chiefs of Police are responsible for the execution of police tasks in their districts independently and on their own responsibility.

The country is divided into 26 police districts. In Reykjavik the police duties are divided between the Chief of the State Criminal Police who is the head of the C.I.D. and Chief of Police who is in charge of all other police functions. The Chiefs of Police must be lawyers. Most of them also have other functions for the State, such as collecting taxes, etc.

Tasks and duties

There is no military in Iceland and the police has from the beginning been organized on rather unmilitary principles, since the criminal rate is relatively low in this country where the population today is 255.000 inhabitants. The duties are regular police duties, imposed in the Law on Judicial Procedure in Criminal Matters, such as traffic regulation and control, maintenance of public order and peace, prevention of criminal behaviour, investigation of crimes, etc. The administrative tasks imposed upon the police, such as granting commercial licenses, lottery, licenses for explosives and weapons, driving licenses, issuing passports, etc. are established in a series of laws and regulations.

Structure and organisation

Most of the police forces in Iceland have no distinction between tasks, since they are few-numbered, and therefore carry out all police functions. In the bigger police districts (numbering 20-30 policemen) there are specific policemen in the criminal investigation branch, 2-3 in number. The detectives are drawn from the regular police force if they are found qualified for the work after one year. In Iceland the State Criminal Investigation Department is headed by the Chief of State Criminal Investigation Police. This department investigates more serious crimes in Reykjavik and surroundings and assists other districts in the country in technical matters and in serious and difficult cases. Almost all the detectives have been educated as policemen and have served as uniformed policemen.

In Reykjavik the police is divided into various branches:

The Uniformed branch
The policemen patrol the streets on foot or in radio-equipped cars, handle all cases of illegal conduct which they discover, take part in directing traffic and are on the look-out for missing persons and stolen cars. They control the crowds on public holidays, during parades and receptions for visiting foreign statesmen or royalties. They bring in drunk and disorderly persons, supervise street demonstrations and quell riots. The police in Iceland are very restricted in their use of force. They are not armed except with a short baton. Only in hostage situations and the like they are equipped with firearms.

The Traffic branch
The Traffic branch is responsible for traffic planning with the municipal authorities in the flow of traffic, one-way streets, traffic lanes, traffic signs and lights, etc. They educate children in schools in how to behave in the traffic and how to respect traffic rules and regulations. They undertake traffic supervision with cars and motorcycles, carry out speed-control, stop-control, etc. The personnel in the Traffic branch are drawn from the regular police.

The Mobile Police Force
This group of policemen has the main task to assist local police forces in rural areas in Iceland, mainly in traffic control and also assist during events that call for additional policing.

The Narcotics Department
The section of narcotic surveillance rests with the Chief of Police but not with the C.I.D. The Chief of Police in Reykjavik is also the head of the Governments Alien's Office. The Icelandic National Centre Bureau of INTERPOL has been organized as a division in the Ministry of Justice.

Personnel - Groups and ranks

The police employees are divided in three main groups; the senior officials, policemen/women and office personnel.
The ranks are:

Senior officials:

• Chief of Police
• Deputy Chief of Police
• Assistant Police Commander

Policemen/women:

• Chief Superintendent
• Assistant Chief Superintendent
• Station Superintendent
• Division Superintendent
• Detective
• Chief Inspector
• Inspector
• Sergeant
• Constable
• Cadet

Policewomen

Only in Reykjavik and the biggest police districts there is a small number of policewomen, about 7% of the total service. In principle male and female officers are on an equal footing and mostly assigned to the same kind of duties.

The police in Iceland wear uniforms consisting of black trousers and black jackets with brass buttons and insignia, white peaked caps with the police badge, white shirts for inspectors and higher ranks/ light blue for the lower ranks (sergeant and lower) but with brass plates, stars and small police badges for the higher ranks.

Police recruitment and training
Applicants for a policeman's post must be Icelandic citizens , between 20-35 years of age. Since 1th July 1997 there are no more height limits. They must be athletic, mentally and physically healthy, etc. They must have completed integrated compulsory basic school and two years general study at an advanced school or other comparative study with satisfactory results. The applicants must pass medical examination and an endurance test.

At the National Police College a special committee, a Selection Committee, assesses as to whether an applicant satisfies the aforementioned conditions. The Selection Committee is composed of members from the Ministry of Justice, the Policemen's Federation, the Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police College, the National Police Commissioner, who is also the Committee's Chairman. Only those having completed the testing period of two years and passed the examination at the Police College shall be appointed to a permanent policeman's post. A special Chief superintendent heads the College. A College Board undertakes the superior supervision of the College.

The basic study for police officer is divided into two parts. The first term is of 12 weeks and the latter term, which comes one year after the first term, is also of 20 weeks. The year in between shall be used for vocational training. Every year different courses are held in various special branches in the field of policing. Policemen are able to attend refresher courses which are held within 5 years from the time of their completion of study of the Police College and then at intervals of 5-10 years.