Swedish Police

Recently there have been calls to change the New Zealand Police firearm policy so that police officers are routinely armed at all times. It is believed that an armed police force interacts in society differently from an unarmed police force and little is known about how the change to an armed force will affect the relationship between the police and the public. The purpose of this study is to identify these issues by studying comparable jurisdictions and to predict how they might alter the strategic relationship between New Zealand society and police. The police of England and Wales, Norway and Sweden were compared. Prominent themes emerged from the study. For the police-public relationship to remain functional, the police must maintain a high level of police legitimacy. Legitimacy can be affected by the manner in which the police use firearms. The use of firearms by police officers is influenced by departmental policy and their independent perception of the degree of risk they face. The main conclusions drawn from this research were that it was not likely that a barrier would emerge between the police and public nor was there likely to be a significant impact on the police’s ability to police by consent if the police become routinely armed. However routinely arming the New Zealand police might lead to a reduction in police safety as officers may be more inclined to engage in dangerous situations."

The increased digitalisation of society and recent developments in AI is laying the ground for surveillance capabilities of a magnitude we have not seen before. Surveillance can be conducted by several different actors in society, this project focuses on the Swedish police currently using a large ensemble of surveillance technologies. Earlier this year, significant legislative changes governing the police authorities use of digital surveillance were enacted. These changes mean that the police now have been given an extended mandate to use digital surveillance as part of their professional practice, which places demands on balanced decisions and informed responsibility. On the one hand, the police have an interest to use digital surveillance to increase efficiency and security in society; on the other hand, the police must balance their interests with citizen’s so-called integrity-interests and right to privacy. This study will therefore examine to what extent the Swedish Police Auth...