The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police

security agency A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a state. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

on 2 June 2001.

History and organization

The service was established in 1937 by direction of the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

led by

Trygve Lie Trygve Halvdan Lie ( , ; 16 July 1896 – 30 December 1968) was a Norwegians, Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian foreign minister during the critical years of the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet, N ...

. It is responsible for monitoring and maintaining interior security in Norway. Known operational departments include ''counterintelligence unit'', ''counterterrorism unit'', ''counterproliferation and organized crime unit'', ''counterextremism unit'', ''investigation unit'', ''surveillance unit'', ''technology unit'', ''security analysis unit'' and ''foreign citizens unit''. In addition, PST is in charge of all VIP protection domestically and abroad except for the royal family, which has its own independent escort service. PST is, unlike all ordinary police services, not subordinated to the National Police Directorate, but placed directly under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. The agency is monitored by the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee, after the debates concerning the Lund Report. The organization consists of ' (central unit) which is located in Nydalen,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, as well as regional offices in all the police regions.

Directors

This is a list of the directors of the agency. * 1957–1966 :

Asbjørn Bryhn Asbjørn Johan Bryhn (24 August 1906 – 21 January 1990) was a Norwegian police officer, known for his resistance work during World War II, and later head of the Norwegian Police Surveillance Agency. Personal life Bryhn was born in Drammen as ...

* 1967–1982 : Gunnar Haarstad * 1982–1990 : Jostein Erstad * 1990–1991 : Svein Urdal * 1991–1993 : Jan Grøndahl (''acting'') * 1993–1996 : Hans Olav Østgaard * 1996–1997 : Ellen Holager Andenæs (''acting'') * 1997–2003 : Per Sefland * 2003–2004 : Arnstein Øverkil (''acting'') * 2004–2009 : Jørn Holme * 2009 : Roger Berg (''acting'') * 2009–2012 : Janne Kristiansen * 2012 : Roger Berg (''acting'') * 2012–2019 :

Marie Benedicte Bjørnland Marie Benedicte Bjørnland (born 30 April 1965) is a Norwegian lawyer. She is the current Director of Police since 2019, and was the head of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) from 2012 to 2019. Career She was born in Kristiansand and g ...

* 2019–2022:

Hans Sverre Sjøvold Hans Sverre Sjøvold (born 20 August 1957) is a Norwegian civil servant and former police chief. He served as the director of the Norwegian Police Security Service from 2019 until his resignation in 2022 following an illegal weapons storage sca ...

* 2022- : Beate Gangås

References

External links

Official website
(in Norwegian)
Instruction for the Norwegian Police Security Service
(in Norwegian)

{{Authority control 1937 establishments in Norway