| The Swedish National Police Board Rikspolisstyrelsen |
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| Common name | Polisen |
| Abbreviation | SNPB |
| Coat of arms and wordmark of Polisen | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Employees | 28,500[1] |
| Annual budget | 20,6 Billion SEK[2] |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Sweden |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Stockholm |
| Sworn members | 20,000[3] |
| Unsworn members | 8,500[4] |
| Agency executive | Bengt Svenson[5], National Police Commissioner |
| Child agencies |
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| Departments |
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| Website | |
| http://www.polisen.se/en/Languages/Startpage/ | |
The Swedish Police Service (Swedish: Polisen, or Polismyndigheten) is a collection of Government agencies concerned with police matters in Sweden. The Swedish Police Service consists of 28,500 employees[6] of which 39 per cent are women. The staff consists of 20,000 police officers[7] of which 25 per cent are women and 8,500 civilian staff of which 70 per cent are women. Almost all active duty police officers are members of the Swedish Police Union (Polisförbundet).[8]
The Swedish Police Service consists of the Swedish National Police Board and 21 county police authorities.[9]
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The Swedish National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) is the central administrative and supervisory authority of the police service. It is also the supervisory authority of the National Laboratory of Forensic Science. The SNPB is headed by the National Police Commissioner who is appointed by the government. The current National Police Commissioner is Bengt Svenson. Among other things, the SNPB is responsible for the development of new working methods and technological and administrative support. It is also - through the National Police Academy - responsible for the training of police officers. It is also the principal agency for the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science (SKL).
The National Police Board also consists of two national departments:
The National Bureau of Investigation, Rikskriminalpolisen (RKP)
The Swedish National Bureau of Investigation's mission is fighting serious organised crime, being the point of contact for international police cooperation and crisis management. Its responsibilities are to lead and coordinate resources such as criminal intelligence, border control issues and witness protection, to provide special expertise and conduct operational police work, both on its own and assisting local police authorities. It is organised in five divisions: The Chief of staff's office, the Central border control division, the International police cooperation division, the Criminal intelligence and investigation division and the Special operations division (e.g. the National Task Force and the Police Helicopter Service).
The Swedish Security Service, Säkerhetspolisen (SÄPO)
The Security Service's mission is to prevent and detect offences against Swedish national security, fight terrorism and protect the central Government. It works in counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, protection of the Swedish constitution, protective security and dignitary protection.
In each of the 21 Counties of Sweden there is a County Police Authority, which is headed by a County Police Commissioner. There is also a County Police Board, consisting of local politicians and the commissioner. The Commissioners and the members of the board are all appointed by the Government of Sweden. The County Police Authorities report to the National Police Board which in turn report to the Ministry of Justice.
The police have special units that are used in more difficult situations or serious security threats, such as the Piketen emergency response teams and the paramilitary National Task Force (Swedish: Nationella insatsstyrkan). For larger issues, there is also opportunity to receive reinforcement from auxiliary Beredskapspolisen.
The Swedish police operate a number of helicopters as support units. Tasked mainly with observation and search duties while being stationed in a number of locations in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Östersund and Boden). The type used at present is the Eurocopter EC-135.
For most of the 20th century, Swedish police vehicles were painted black and white. In 2005, Swedish police cars changed to a blue and fluorescent yellow livery (Battenburg markings), from a white and blue one. Most Swedish police cars are either Volvos or Saabs, with the same livery all over Sweden.
Almost all officers wear a waistbelt which carries a service pistol (the official side arm for the Swedish police is the SIG Sauer P226, P228 & P239), extra magazine, expandable baton, handcuffs, Sepura radio, Nokia mobile phone, pepper spray, keys and gloves. They also have a duffel bag which has additional equipment including masks 90 and vest. Many police officers also carry a RAKEL radio communication device. All police officers must carry identification.
Currently the police use two radio systems, the analogue S70 and S80. S70 is used nationwide, while S80 is used as a complement to the S70 in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. Both systems are becoming obsolete and the Swedish Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) began the introduction of a new digital radio system, RAKEL (RadioKommunikation för Effektiv Ledning,"Radio Communication for Effective Command and Control"). Police made the first tests with RAKEL in April 2006.
Since radio systems can be scanned, for sensitive information the police choose to use cell phones that are practically impossible to intercept, even though the cellphone only allows calls between the communication center and an individual officer, while the radio allows a large number of police units to communicate with each other simultaneously.
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