Norwegians coddle crime, reap results
Don Surber has an intriguing little write up on a Norwegian prison policy which apparently makes prison terms optional:
“It’s difficult to make plans for the prison terms when we have no idea who will show up and who won’t,” said Ellinor Houm, director of the Norwegian Correctional Services, section for eastern Norway.
With fewer criminals showing up here than in any other part of Norway, Houm’s in charge of prisons with many empty beds. So far this year, every fourth criminal has not bothered to turn up at the prison gates in eastern Norway.
Of those who don’t show up, it appears that a good number hang out in Oslo:
The numbers, reported in newspaper Aftenposten, speak for themselves: No country has fewer police per capita than Norway, as many as 70 percent of so-called petty crimes are never followed up, and while the police force has increased 150 percent since 1960, the crime rate has increased 700 percent.
The culture of coddling crime seems to be a huge part of the problem. Here’s a description of a paramilitary armed robbery that walked away with a huge chunk of currency. They killed one guard and, although they confessed to the crime, refused to reveal where the cash was hidden. Why would they? They could easily get out in time to enjoy it:
The top sentence handed down was 18 years. The shooter received 16 years with the potential of serving life because he was a career criminal, but that isn’t guaranteed.
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