Norway’s police chief Oeystein Maeland has resigned after an inquiry found that mass killer Anders Behring Breivik could have been stopped before killing at the Utoya Island last year.
The police chief of Norway Oeystein Maeland has officially resigned. Norwegian Police Chief Oeystein Maeland’s resignation comes after he was criticized for his role in Norway’s tragic massacre in Norway and the Utoya Island last year.
In July 2011, Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 people in a bombing and gun attack. A police report about the Norway shooting tragedy concluded that the police did an adequate job.
The bombing of central Oslo, Norway and shooting spree at the ruling Labour party’s youth camp shook the tiny nation of 5 million people, raising questions about the prevalence of far-right views in Norway and the efficiency of the security services.
Police failed in case of bombing and shooting spree by Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people
Norway’s Police Chief Oeystein Maeland, who became the head of the police directorate weeks before Norwegian murderer Anders Breivik’s attack on July 22 last year, has been criticized for his failure to face up to police shortcomings in the aftermath of Norway’s worst peacetime violence.
The resignation of Oeystein Maeland was revealed by Justice Minister Grete Faremo during a TV debate late this week. Norway’s ex-police chief Oeystein Maeland said later that he could no longer continue in the job without the minister’s confidence.
Among the most damaging of the report’s conclusions is that a 2-man local police team reached the lake shore first, but chose to wait for better-trained colleagues rather than find a boat and cross to Utoya massacre themselves.
The commission said intelligence services could have learned about Anders Breivik’s plans months before the attack when he purchased bomb-making components, and police had enough information to stop him as he made his way from the bombing scene to the youth camp.
Pressure has been mounting on the ruling Labour government since Monday’s report. Norwegian murderer Anders Breivik, who killed mostly teenagers, including some as young as 14, said his victims were fair targets because they were ‘ brainwashed cultural Marxists ‘ whose support for Muslim immigration threatened Norwegian ethnic purity.
The resignation of Norwegian police chief Oeystein Maeland revealed / Norway Breivik Massacre News
The resignation of the Norwegian police chief Oeystein Maeland comes in the wake of a scathing Aug. 13 report issued by an independent commission that was looking into Norway’s response to the July 22, 2011 terror attacks in Oslo and on Utoya island by confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik. The commission determined mass killer Anders Breivik could have been arrested sooner had police reaction been better coordinated.
The police ran into several problems on their way to the island. The small boat used by the first-response team almost sank because it was too light to carry eleven heavily armed officers, and a local volunteer rescued the special-force team with a private boat. The lack of access to a police helicopter, because pilots were on holiday, is also widely thought to have delayed the response time.
The commission also questioned why the local police in the island’s district, Nordre Buskerud, did not immediately try to reach Utoya. The report said, the police observed the Utoya island from the mainland shore a short distance away and cleared traffic to make way for a special forces unit coming from Oslo. However, local police knew children had been shot and wounded on the island, and saw others escaping by boat or by swimming.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg accepted responsibility for the report’s findings, saying Oeystein Maeland would stay on to implement its recommendations. Still, the fallout on him appeared limited, with a poll by public broadcaster NRK showing 72% of voters believed Norwegian policeman Maeland did not need to resign.
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