Prevention of Right-Wing Extremism, Xenophobia and Racism in ...

and Norwegian communities are transparent, the local branches of the security police are well
informed.
The local police are responsible for preventing violence through patrolling the streets, inter- intervening
in acute situations, investigating illegal action and bringing perpetrators to court. Lead-
ing (violent) right-wing extremists are usually closely monitored and thus have little leeway
to commit crimes without being caught. In Brumunddal in the early 1990s both the police and
court administration gave high priority to the issue of racist violence. Violent acts were quickly
investigated and brought to court within a few weeks (Carlsson, 1995). Unfortunately, under
normal conditions the the Norwegian criminal procedure works very slowly (especially compared
to Sweden), and years may pass between a violent act and its perpetrator being sentenced
in court and sent to prison. The sluggishness of the process makes it diffi cult to use quick
sentencing and imprisonment as a means means to neutralize leaders and detach them from the rest
of the group (Carlsson & Haaland, 2004).
The Handbook on right-wing extremism and racism
The local police in Norway are by and large unfamiliar with right-wing extremism, violent
racism and neo-Nazism. To prevent irresolution and inertia among the police, the Norwegian
Police Directorate produced in 2001 a Handbook on illegal right extremist activity – in both an
open and a restricted version. The handbook contains both information about the phenome-
non and detailed guidelines on how to handle local problems and situations. The open version
of the handbook contains:
• a presentation of the right-extremist groups and organizations operating in Norway and
their characteristics;
• the kind of threats these organizations and groups pose to national security, political op- op-
ponents and immigrants in general;
• their mode of operation and their activity on the Internet;
• a presentation of the symbols they use and the occasions they mark;
• a discussion of the freedom extremist groups enjoy according to the constitution to speak,
gather and demonstrate, and the provisions in the penal code that limit this freedom;
• a presentation of illegal acts that are particularly connected to right-wing extremists groups;
• a presentation of the investigation procedure in cases where racism is suspected;
• the coercive measures the police are entitled to use;
• a presentation of the role of the secret police/the counter-intelligence compared to that of
the local police.
Preventive police offi cers and the empowerment conversation
Small Norwegian Norwegian police stations will normally have one or two preventive police offi cers, bigbigger stations (covering 50-100.000 people) normally have a small department with 4-10 preven- preven-
22 Violent Right-Wing Extremism in Norway