In the wake of the gang shootings that have gripped Copenhagen in recent weeks, the government has unveiled a new proposal that aims to ensure a stronger and more visible local police force.
The proposal, ‘Closeness and Safety’, includes 14 initiatives such as more mobile police stations, more focus on response times and better service for the 112 and 114 hotlines.
“The authorities have drifted too far from the citizens in recent years, including our police. That’s a trend we need to see halted as our police must be present all across the country,” said the justice minister, Søren Pape Poulsen.
“We significantly boost the local police with 150 officers and ensure that all police districts have a mobile police station so they can foster security and visibility in all corners of Denmark. It’s important to me that the police are present in sparsely-populated areas and that it is the police that come to the citizens and not the other way around.”
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Order an officer
Poulsen contends that protecting against terrorism and guarding borders has impacted the police as a close and service-orientated authority.
One of the other initiatives included in the proposal is allowing citizens to ‘order a police officer’ to learn more about how to prevent burglaries and safe behaviour online.
