Police, Ukraine Wars | The police have been busy in recent weeks: - We were not offered such an assignment, and had to turn around quickly

For three and a half weeks, the West Police District has operated a local registration center, where Ukrainian refugees have been registered.

The demand has been so great that the police initially asked refugees who could wait to postpone the meeting at the registration center.

Had to turn around quickly

– We were not offered such an assignment and had to turn around quickly. Fortunately, unexpected events are something we in the police are good at. In record time, we have put in place and staffed the registration center in Kokstad and in Førde and we now have good control, says police chief Kaare Songstad in a press release from the police.

The police are now in the process of updating, and are asking those who have been waiting to show up at the registration center to get in touch to arrange a registration time.

– The first week we had close to 500 waiting for registration and more have arrived since then. We have built up the capacity and expect to be up to date before Easter. So now we ask all Ukrainian refugees in the police district who have not been in contact with us to get in touch, says the police chief.

Many people in turn

As many as 80 police officers from the West Police District have been reassigned to the work of refugee registration.

– At the same time, it is important for us that the assignment does not go beyond the emergency preparedness in the police district and there are many who have been on extra lately to get the wheels turning. The inhabitants can be sure that we have good preparedness also through Easter, says Songstad.

But the effort and relocation of people goes beyond other tasks.

– This will be noticed in other ways and is of course unfortunate for those who are accidental. We have received extra funds and are now working to hire more people to help us through the situation. It will take some time before the intermediate resources are in place, but we believe everyone understands that this work is important to prioritize, says the police chief.

For example, no reported crime against refugees

Earlier this week, a man in Tromsø was charged with raping a 17-year-old girl from Ukraine.

In the press release, the West Police District writes that they have not, for example, registered incidents where Ukrainian refugees have been exposed to crimes that violate integrity.

The West Police District said that they also have a strong focus on this, and that the police monitor, and work preventively, to prevent them from being exploited as illegal labor, among other things.