Hans Sverre Sjøvold (born 20 August 1957) is a Norwegian civil servant and former police chief. In 2022, he resigned as chief of

Norwegian Police Security Service The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001. History an ...

.https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/x8owll/sjoevold-gaar-av-som-pst-sjef. VG.no He graduated with the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree in 1988 and embarked on a career in the prosecution authority. From 2001 to 2002 he served as assisting director of the

National Police Directorate National Police Directorate ( no, Politidirektoratet) a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security which heads the Norwegian Police Service. The directorate is led by the National Police Commissioner (Politidirekt ...

before serving as Chief of Police in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

from 2002 to 2005. He was then rector of the

Norwegian Police University College The Norwegian Police University College ( no, Politihøgskolen; PHS) is a public university college located in Oslo, Kongsvinger, Stavern and Bodø, Norway. It offers education for the police force of Norway, including a three-year basic educati ...

from 2005 to 2010, and deputy under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Justice and the Police from 2010. He was appointed chief of police of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

in 2012, succeeding

Anstein Gjengedal Anstein Birger Gjengedal (born 26 November 1944) is a former Norwegian police chief. He was born in Lom. He was a public prosecutor in Eidsivating from 1977 until 1989 when he became deputy director of the Norwegian National Authority for the In ...

. He has been appointed head of the

(PST), effective from June 2019.

Controversy

Later in 2019, media revealed - "the weapons' affair" - that Sjøvold had been storing 3 firearms illegally for several years; he had also been doing that at the Department of Justice; in May 2022, MPs sent written questions about the case, to the Minister of Justice; on 25 May 2022, she appeared in front of the

Standing Committee on Justice The Standing Committee on Justice ( no, Justiskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to judicial system, the probation service, the police, persons performing civilian national service ...

to answer about the controversy. Sjøvold made a (relevant) written explanation to the Minister of Justice in 2019; as of May 2022 that documentation was not available for public crutiny(but it was released on the day that Sjøvold later resigned); Later in May, the chief of Internal affairs (law enforcement) or">Internal_affairs_(law_enforcement).html" ;"title="Internal affairs (law enforcement)">Internal affairs (law enforcement) orNorwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs">Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs, said that the agency could have done more investigation when Sjøvold was suspected of having abused his [authority or] position, to get rid of the weapons of a fellow freemason. Later in May, the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs wrote a letter to the Justice Minister, to get answers about the content of Sjøvold's letter to the Justice Minister back in 2019. As of Q2 2022, a whistleblower appeared regarding the Norwegian Police Service; VG revealed that one police employee became disabled after experiencing threats and coercion from colleagues and leaders regarding desire that theemployee should formally accept weapons (on behalf of the police), from Sjøvold. On 2 June 2022, Sjøvold resigned as chief of Norwegian Police Security Service, which came in the wake of revelations regarding the three firearms that he wanted to get rid of, and which he had stored unlawfully.https://www.vg.no/nyheter/meninger/i/7da4v3/det-gikk-ikke-lenger. VG.no. Retrieved 3 June 2022

References

1957 births Living people Norwegian jurists Norwegian police chiefs Rectors of universities and colleges in Norway Directors of government agencies of Norway {{Norway-law-bio-stub