Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET) (literally: Police Intelligence Service, official name in English: Danish Security and Intelligence Service, or DSIS) is the national security and

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informa ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The agency focuses solely on national security, and foreign intelligence operations are handled by the

Danish Defence Intelligence Service The Danish Defence Intelligence Service, DDIS ( da, Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, FE), is a Danish intelligence agency, responsible for Denmark’s foreign intelligence, as well as being the Danish military intelligence service. DDIS is an a ...

, the foreign intelligence service administered by the Danish Royal Defense. The stated overall purpose of PET is to "prevent, investigate and counter operations and activities that pose or may pose a threat to the preservation of Denmark as a free, democratic and safe country".

History

The history of PET can be traced back to shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

when the Danish police force expanded to create the Sikkerhedspoliti (SIPO) (literally: Security Police).

Operations

The primary duties of the PET are

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

, counter-extremism,

counter-espionage Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

and

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

. Counterterrorism encompass stopping terrorist attacks on Denmark and Danish interests, and preventing Denmark from being used as a base of operations for carrying out terrorist attacks in and against other countries. Furthermore, it attempts to gather evidence to ensure that terrorists are prosecuted. Denmark is obliged by UN and EU resolutions to support other states in prosecuting terrorists. Aside from the three main areas, PET also provides counselling to Danish companies on how to avoid espionage but is directly involved in countering industrial espionage only if an agency of a foreign government is involved. It has a role as national security advisor to the Danish government, public authorities and other branches of the police along with a number of other activities common to domestic security organisations. PET also provides bodyguards for Danish royalty, politicians and other persons.

Organization

PET is a part of the Danish police but reports directly to the Minister of Justice. The headquarters is in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and they have offices in

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

and

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

located in the local police stations. Because the service is integrated with the Danish

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

, they have representatives in all police precincts of Denmark.

The Security Department

The Security Department provides operational support to the other units of PET and the police districts through: the Special Intervention Unit, the Personal Protection Unit and the Negotiation Group. The Security Department also comprises: the Security Co-ordination Centre, which ensures ongoing prioritisation of, among other tasks, personal protection and security coordination assignments in relation to major events, state visits and similar.

Supervision and oversight

Several organs oversee PET in order to make sure the agency does not misuse its powers. *

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

. * The parliamentary budget committee (

Rigsrevisionen Rigsrevisionen is the national audit agency of the Kingdom of Denmark and an independent institution of the Folketing. It is responsible for auditing the expenditure of Danish central government, and also public-sector bodies in which the governme ...

) has oversight and supervision with the budgets. * The Wamberg committee has oversight and supervision with the registration of people. * Parliamentary intelligence agencies control committee, that consist of five members, from each of the five biggest parties. Besides those listed the agency is also under the control of the

Courts of Denmark The Courts of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Domstole, fo, Danmarks Dómstólar, kl, Danmarkimi Eqqartuussiviit) is the ordinary court system of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Courts of Denmark as an organizational entity was created with the Polic ...

(which has to approve many special steps of investigation, e.g. wire-tapping.)

Criticism and public relations

PET was criticised in the late 1990s for being closed to the public and has tried to counter these claims by adopting a more open approach. Thus PET has taken to maintain a website explaining its overall aims and obligations and publishing an annual public report surveying extremist activities in Denmark and the threat level to national domestic security (albeit only in a very overall fashion). Following a report into the

2015 Copenhagen shootings On 14–15 February 2015, three separate shootings occurred in Copenhagen, Denmark. In total, two victims and the perpetrator were killed, while five police officers were wounded. The first shooting took place on 14 February at a small public after ...

, Jens Madsen resigned.

People with PET bodyguards

PET does not comment on whom they offer specific bodyguard protection. However, it is publicly established that the following people are under permanent protection: *

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (Frederik André Henrik Christian; born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Early life Crown Prince Frede ...

Mette Frederiksen Mette Frederiksen (; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has been Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019, and Leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. The second woman to hold either office, she is also the youngest prime ...

, prime minister of Denmark These people have or have had at some times full-time protection: * Rasmus Paludan, politician and leader of the Hard Line anti-immigration political party *

Pia Kjærsgaard Pia Merete Kjærsgaard (; born 23 February 1947) is a Danish politician who was Speaker of the Danish Parliament from 2015 to 2019, and former leader of the Danish People's Party. She is a co-founder of the Danish People's Party, and led the ...

, former speaker of the Danish parliament

Folketinget The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

, and former leader of the far-right political party Dansk Folkeparti * Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former

Prime minister of Denmark The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Island ...

and former leader of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the le ...

, former

and former leader of Venstre * Naser Khader, member of the

Danish parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

* Kurt Westergaard, cartoonist *

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne, which means that should he succeed, Mary w ...

Prince Joachim of Denmark , father = Henri de Laborde de Monpezat , mother = Margrethe II of Denmark , house = Glücksburg (official) Monpezat (agnatic) , religion = Church of Denmark , occupation = Military Attaché, Royal Danish Embassy i ...

Lars Hedegaard Lars Hedegaard (born 19 September 1942) is a Danish people, Danish journalist and author. He established the Danish Free Press Society in 2004, which was turned into the International Free Press Society in 2009. Career Originally a high school t ...

, historian and journalist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danish Security And Intelligence Service Law enforcement agencies of Denmark Danish intelligence agencies