Here’s Effective Policing

Just why does Oslo have a police force if this is all they do?

A new report by the justice minister, Knut Storberget, shows that 99.2 percent of all serious robberies on the streets of Oslo are never solved.

Last year, 11,033 crimes were reported, but just 80 were solved.

And the wave of robberies is increasing rapidly. Yesterday 33 people were the victims of serious crimes in Oslo. In the first three months of 2008, serious robberies in public places have increased by 10 percent.

Many city officials blame the increase in crime on begging and prostitution by people from other lands, mostly Eastern Europe.

A ban on begging in the streets was lifted in 2005.

But while the criminals go free, the politicians and police argue about what can be done. City Council head Erling Lae has sent a letter to the justice minister asking that “pågående” (insistent, or aggressive) begging and prostitution be forbidden.

Aggressive Prostitution? Well, Oslo is a nice liberal place now – with a crime rate four times that of New York City. It just seems that being a law-abiding citizen and living there isn’t too pleasant. However, since they apparently do nothing to actually prevent any crime or track down any criminals its probably a pretty cushy job to be a policeman there.

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