| Police Ríkislögreglan | |
|---|---|
.svg) Official insignia | |
| Common name | Lögreglan (the police) |
| Motto | Með lögum skal land byggja With laws shall lands be built |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1778; 247 years ago (1778) |
| Employees | c. 786 (2019)[1] |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Iceland |
| Operations jurisdiction | Iceland |
| Size | 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi) |
| Population | 389,444 (2025) |
| Governing body | Icelandic government |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Elected officer responsible | |
| Agency executive |
|
| Facilities | |
| Police cars and motorcycles | c. 300+ (2012) |
| Website | |
www | |
InIceland, thePolice (Icelandic:Ríkislögreglan,lit. 'the State Police') is the national police force ofIceland. It is responsible forlaw enforcement throughout the country, except in Icelandicterritorial waters which fall under thejurisdiction of theIcelandic Coast Guard.[2] Police affairs in Iceland are the responsibility of theMinistry of Justice[3] and are administered by the Office of the National Commissioner of the Police (Embætti ríkislögreglustjóra) on behalf of the ministry.[4] Theorganisation is divided into nine districts, the largest being theReykjavík Metropolitan Police (Lögreglan á höfuðborgarsvæðinu), which is responsible for theCapital Region[5] and its total population of around 208,000 people.[6]
The police can trace its origins to 1778 when the first traces of industry started to appear. Up until that time, the law had been enforced first by individuals permitted to do so by theAlthing and then bysýslumenn (sheriffs) and other Royal proxies.[7]
The first policemen are considered to be themorning star-armed night watchmen ofReykjavík who were commissioned primarily to deter the prisoners of the Reykjavík prison from breaking into theInnréttingarnar [is].[8]
In 1803, the first proper policemen were commissioned in Reykjavík as it became a free town orkaupstaður [is]. The first police chief wasRasmus Frydensberg, the town mayor, who hired two former soldiers,Ole Biørn andVilhelm Nolte, as the first policemen. It was not until shortly after 1891 that policemen were hired in most of the other areas ofIceland.[9]
In 1933Alþingi passed the Police Act which provided state participation in financing of police forces. This was done mostly in response to the threat of acommunist revolution, whose capabilities had become apparent in a violent attempt to force the decisions of the Reykjavík city council, where a large part of the police forces went out of action as a result of physical injury. The act also authorized theMinister of Justice and Ecclesiastical affairs to call out reserves in critical situations.[10]
In 1972 the state took over command of law enforcement in Iceland, creating the National Police and in 1977 State Criminal Investigation Police started operations under a special Director. The State Investigation Police took over investigations of criminal activities that previously were under the control of the Reykjavík Criminal Court and police commissioners in theCapital Region.[11] The National Commissioner of the Police was formed in 1997, and the State Criminal Investigation Police was decommissioned.[12]
On 2 December 2013, a person died due to anarmed police operation for the first and currently only time in Iceland's history. Police had responded to reports of shotgun fire in an apartment inÁrbær, a neighborhood of Reykjavík. Initiallytear gas was used in an attempt to subdue the gunman,[13] a 59-year-old man, but it failed to affect him.
When thespecial police unit entered the apartment in question, two officers were injured by shotgun fire. One officer was holding aballistic shield which was hit. The other officer was hit in the head, but was wearing a ballistic helmet. Two officers with ballistic shields and pistols returned four shots, two of them striking the gunman. The gunman was taken to the hospital but pronounced dead upon arrival. National Police Commissioner Haraldur Johannessen immediately apologised to the man's family, calling the incident "unprecedented". The shooter's motives were not immediately clear, though some neighbours reported the gunman was making threats towards them.[14] An investigation into this incident was launched, and the guns involved on all sides were seized. Counseling was offered to the officers involved.[15] This still remains as the first and currently only shooting death involving the Icelandic Police in Iceland's history.
On the evening of 26 August 2021, a man armed with a shotgun and handgun started shooting at a car and house of the father of his girlfriend's children inEgilsstaðir, small town in east Iceland. Police officers in Egilsstaðir responded armed with pistols. Officers repeatedly told the gunman to lay down his weapons and give up when he was inside the house. After about an hour, the man came out of the house and started shooting at the police officers taking cover behind cars in the driveway. One officer returned fire, striking the gunman in the chest. The gunman was quickly helped and transported by air ambulance toReykjavík to be treated. The gunman survived and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.[16][17][18] The incident marked the first time a normal police officer, not in thespecial armed police unit, fired a gun on duty.
On 21 September 2022, the police arrested four individuals who were suspected of alleged terrorist plot, the first of its kind in the country, to attack various institutions and citizens of the state.[19][20][21]
The police academy was shut down as of 30 September 2016 and theMinistry of Education, Science and Culture has decided to hand the responsibility of training future police officers toUniversity of Akureyri (Icelandic:Háskólinn á Akureyri). Until then the police academy was its own independent institution under the Ministry of Interior. The police academy had previously been a non-university educational institution.[22]
This decision was quite controversial as it went against what a committee (established by Central Public ProcurementIcelandic:Ríkiskaup) had recommended, with training provided by theUniversity of Iceland (Icelandic:Háskóli Íslands).[23]
After the changes took place, cadets are now required to complete a two-yearPolice Science university diploma consisting of 120ECTS credits.[24] The practical training takes place at the Centre for Police Training and Professional Development (Icelandic:Mennta- og starfsþróunarsetur lögreglunnar), established June 1, 2016 to replace the police academy that was shut down the same year.[25]
| # | Title | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ríkislögreglustjóri | National Police Commissioner |
| 2 | Lögreglustjóri | Police Commissioner |
| 2 | Aðstoðarríkislögreglustjóri | Deputy National Police Commissioner |
| 3 | Aðstoðarlögreglustjóri | Deputy Police Commissioner |
| 4 | Yfirlögregluþjónn | Chief Superintendent |
| 5 | Aðstoðaryfirlögregluþjónn | Superintendent |
| 6 | Aðalvarðstjóri | Chief Inspector |
| Lögreglufulltrúi | Detective Chief Inspector | |
| 7 | Varðstjóri | Inspector |
| Rannsóknarlögreglumaður | Detective Inspector | |
| 8 | Lögreglumaður | Police Constable |
| 9 | Lögreglunemi | Police Cadet |
| Afleysingamaður í lögreglu | Temporary Replacement Police Constable | |
| Héraðslögreglumaður | Temporarily hired constable |
The police wear navy dark uniforms marked with traditionalblack and white checked markings and the police star. The working uniform varies from a traditional service uniform (shirt and trousers) to tactical overalls. The old traditional Icelandic service uniform is now used as a dress uniform. The trousers patrol officers use are made from a fire-resistant material.[26]
| Insignia[27][28] |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Ríkislögreglustjóri | Lögreglustjóri | Aðstoðarríkislögreglustjóri | Aðstoðarlögreglustjóri | Yfirlögregluþjónn | Aðstoðaryfirlögregluþjónn | Aðalvarðstjóri | Lögreglufulltrúi | |
| English translation | National Police Commissioner | Police Commissioner | Deputy National Police Commissioner | Deputy Police Commissioner | Chief Superintendent | Superintendent | Chief Inspector | Detective Chief Inspector | |
| Insignia |  |  |  | ||||||
| Title | Varðstjóri | Rannsóknarlögreglumaður | Lögreglumaður | Lögreglunemi | Afleysingamaður í lögreglu | Héraðslögreglumaður | |||
| English translation | Inspector | Detective Inspector | Police Constable | Police cadet | Temporary replacement Police Constable | Temporarily hired Constable | |||
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Although police officers carry only extendable batons and MK-4 OC-spray (pepper spray) whilst on duty, some officers have started to carry tasers but they are trained in the use of firearms and are issued firearms in certain situations.[29]
Most patrol vehicles are equipped with firearms in order to limit the response time needed in assignments that demand armed police. The firearms are stored in a special weapons locker. Thespecial operations team, theVíkingasveitin, carry out their daily assignments armed.[30][31]
Volkswagen TransporterBMW R1250RTMercedes-Benz VitoMercedes-Benz SprinterMercedes-Benz EQB
Volvo V90Volvo XC90MAN TGE
Ford Police InterceptorFord TransitChevrolet SuburbanFord RangerFord ExplorerTesla Model YRam pickup
Škoda SuperbŠkoda Octavia
Kia SorentoKia EV6Huyundai Santa Fe
Yamaha FJR1300
Land Rover DiscoveryToyota RAV4Toyota Land CruiserIn Iceland, police vehicles are white with the Icelandic word for "police",Lögreglan, written in blue letters.
Starting in Spring 2018,Volvo V90 Cross Country vehicles entered service with police districts across the country.[32][33] The new vehicles were the first to use a new livery designed to improve visibility and were based on other European police vehicle liveries, retiring a livery that had been used by the Icelandic police since 2002.[34]
The previous vehicle livery consisted of blue and red stripes with the police star overlaying the stripes on the front doors. All markings are made of reflective material and the emergency lights are all blue.[35]
As of 2022 the regional districts own most of their cars while some of them are on long term rent from Bílaleiga Akureyrar. Previously the National Police Commissioner owned all of the police cars and the regional districts respectively rented them and paid both a per-kilometer fee and a fixed fee. The most common police cars are theVolvo V90 CC,Škoda Octavia andSuperb, and theLand Rover Discovery.
The Víkingasveitin uses four unmarkedFord Police Interceptor Utility and unmarkedChevrolet Suburbans as wellGMC Yukons that have been modified for tactical operations.[36][37]
There are nine police districts in Iceland which follow theregions of Iceland with the addition ofVestmannaeyjar being its own district. The current police district division is stipulated by the Regulation on Police Districts of the Police Commissioner which was signed 4 December 2014 by Prime MinisterSigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson who acted as Minister of Justice temporarily within the Ministry of the Interior due to a scandal.[38] The headquarters are administrative centres for their respective district and regular police stations.[39][40]
In 1939, at the orders of then Prime MinisterHermann Jónasson, the State Police and theÚtlendingaeftirlitið [is] (Foreigner monitoring agency) founded a security department, oreftirgrennslanadeild [is] in Icelandic.[41] This service was founded primarily to monitorNazi scientists in Iceland as well as communists. AfterWorld War II, this service had the embassies of communist countries under surveillance and compiled lists of communist sympathizers and potential saboteurs or terrorists.[42][43] It was not until 2006 that this service was officially acknowledged, after having been known to only a handful of men for more than 60 years, after historians were granted limited access to secret documents.[44][45]
The National Commissioner's National Security Unit (Icelandic:Greiningardeild Ríkislögreglustjóra), established in 2007, is currently responsible for internal intelligence activities which include evaluating threat to the constitution of the state such as terrorism or organized crime.[46]
