– Need police who are a little bit ahead of the curve – NRK Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio

It has been a week since a policeman was sentenced to 120 days in prison for grievous bodily harm and misconduct, after the battles in Kongsberg, in the autumn of 2022.

Not many police officers want to comment on the verdict, which has been appealed to the Supreme Court.

Simen Kristoffer Thorvaldsen from the Oslo police district reacts strongly to the decision in the Borgarting Court of Appeal, after the policeman was acquitted in the district court.

– I think that the judgment actually restricts the room for action, at least with regard to the emergency right that people thought they could rely on in given situations. I think it will lead to you having to be a little more restrained in intervening in situations where you don’t initially know that you have a physical advantage, he says.

Thorvaldsen also spoke about the case to NRK last summer, before the trial started in Buskerud district court.

Long experience from the streets

The police officer has 15 years of street experience. After the verdict, defense attorney Heidi Reisvang said that her client is worried about her colleagues in the future. It is a view Thorvaldsen shares.

– Borgarting has believed that he had other options, but it is difficult to see what that would have been. They say they could let him go. You will see that later in the video. As he gets free, he gets straight to his feet and attacks the police.

Thorvaldsen believes that in future the police will have to consider whether there should be more officers on each assignment.

– The police enter many situations at a very low level. 99 percent of the time it goes just fine, but the one percent where the person you’re controlling goes completely wrong, then you have to have the ability to defend yourself. It has now, in my view, become very restricted.

– There is a limit

Morten Kjensli is legal counsel for Kevin Simensen, one of the two victims in the Kongsberg case.

He does not understand how this judgment can create uncertainty among police officers.

– The judgment sets out guidelines which, in my opinion, are completely in line with the requirements that should be placed on a police officer, says Kjensli.

– The policeman we have spoken to believes the verdict may result in operative police becoming more passive because they are unsure where the border is. What is your comment on that?

– If the verdict is upheld, I think most police officers will be able to accept it. Because I think a clear minority would refer to the type of actions that we have witnessed in this case.

Prosecutor Marit Oliver Storeng submitted a plea for 60 days in prison. The punishment was twice as severe.

– It is the extensive use of blows that has been the basis for our view of the case throughout, and the majority of the Court of Appeal shares our view on that, she says.

The verdict is a useful clarification on behalf of all arrestees, believes lawyer Marius Oscar Dietrichson.

– The police are the only ones who can use violence, and that’s how it should be. They are everyone’s representative and must promote and secure our safety and must make many difficult trade-offs. But there is a line somewhere, believes Dietrichson, who is the former head of the defense group in the Norwegian Bar Association.

Call it light hitting

The court was divided, and two of the fellow judges formed the minority who believed that the defendant’s use of force was not punishable.

“In the majority’s view, the defendant’s fourteen hard fist blows to Simensen’s head and neck, just seconds after the shutdown, clearly exceeded what can be considered a legal use of force under the Police Act.”

– I understand well that he acts as he does. And then you can sit back afterwards and have had plenty of time to discuss which techniques, but in the situation it is the official who is there. He had a sharp weapon on his hip, didn’t get help from his colleagues. Other people interfered, so then it becomes a priority to end the resistance as quickly as possible, says Thorvaldsen.

– Yes, blows to the head are defined high on the power pyramid, but there is a difference between delivering heavy blows like a boxer, or blows that come in a basketball attack where there is physical resistance.

– Are these assessments you face on a daily basis?

– Such massive resistance, with people clicking so much, you don’t often encounter that. I can hardly remember the last time I had a proper fight with someone at work. But suddenly it happens, and then you sometimes have to use so much force that you actually get home from work.

Asking for clarification from the Supreme Court

The Norwegian Police Union also fears that the verdict could set a precedent.

– If the verdict is upheld, it could lead to us having police officers who refuse to go into serious situations. It should also worry society, says leader of the federation Unn Alma Skatvold.

Simen Thorvaldsen believes the public needs active police on the streets.

– We need officials who are a bit ahead of the curve, intervene in things, and enforce law and order. You shouldn’t use more force than necessary, but you need the police to be on the ball now, in order to slow down the development that is happening, especially in the big cities.

– Do you hope the case will be dealt with by the Supreme Court?

– Yes, I think it has to. Not least because there are such different results in the District Court and in the Court of Appeal. There is dissent in both courts, and you come to completely different conclusions. I think that it is quite natural that the case should be heard in the Supreme Court.