A Reykjavík police officer, Gísli Jökull Gíslason, who is also the editor of the Police Magazine, wrote in his most recent editorial that due to lack of qualified officers, students and substitutes have to handle difficult projects on their own.
“Police officers in the other Nordic countries do not understand how we dare to let unskilled people tend to police duties which they know are both demanding and difficult,” Gíslason wrote in his editorial, according to Fréttabladid.
Gíslason said more than 30 police officers in the Capital Region Police have resigned this year. Applicants for the Police Academy are fewer than available positions. Earlier, three or four applied for one position.
Gíslason stated that the number of police officers working in the capital region is now the same as in Reykjavík alone before the police departments in the area were merged. The merger was supposed to improve the working conditions of police officers in the area.
The reason for so many police officers leaving their post is heavy work load and low salary, according to Gíslason. He said he had not had any weekend off in November. “I like being a police officer but I like my family more and if this situation continues I will begin looking for a new job.”
Minister of Justice Björn Bjarnason told Fréttabladid he had not read Gíslason’s article and would therefore not comment on it other than saying, “I agree with Gísli about the necessity of hiring as many educated police officers as possible.”
