Rolf Benjamin Wegner (born 27 October 1940 in Ålesund) is a Norwegian lawyer, civil servant and former chief of police. He is one of the most well known and popular policemen in Norway.

Background

He grew up in

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish muni ...

and is a son of chief of police and judge Rolf Benjamin Wegner (the elder), a grandson of chief of police and county governor Benjamin Wegner, a great-grandson of the timber merchant Heinrich Benjamin Wegner and a 2nd great-grandson of the industrialist Benjamin Wegner. His father published a book about the Wegner family. He rarely uses the name Benjamin, joking that he prefers people to believe the "B" stands for "

Bastian Bastian is a German short form of Sebastian. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Bastian (1826–1905), 19th-century anthropologist *Ali Bastian (born 1982), English television actress *Amy Bastian (born 1968), American neuroscientist * ...

, bank box or something like that."

Career

He graduated as a jurist at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1967 and worked as a deputy judge in

Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand an ...

1967–1969 and as a junior police prosecutor at Romerike 1969–1972."Wegner er åpen for comeback i Bergen," ''

Bergensavisen ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...

'', 26 December 2002 He served as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions 1972–1974, as assistant chief of police (corresponding to assistant chief constable in the United Kingdom) and education director of the

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

1974–1980, as chief of police (corresponding to chief constable in the United Kingdom) in

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

and director of the rescue coordination centre for Northern Norway and of the Security Service in Northern Norway 1980–1985, as director-general in the

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 ...

and head of the Prison Board 1985–1990, as the first director 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 ...

1990–1992, as chief of police in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

1992–2001 and as chief of police in 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 ...

2001–2010. He has written several books and articles on policing and criminal law, private law and criminology, as well as historical topics. He is chairman of the board of the Halden Prison Museum Foundation. He has also been chairman of the parish council of Vestre Aker. He has been a member of the council of Halden Historical Festival.

Fagereng case

As chief of police in Bergen, he had a central role in the so-called Fagereng case, in which the city's chief municipal executive Ragnar Fagereng and his wife were put on trial for filing false police reports and for insurance fraud after reporting repeated vandalism to their home. Wegner was convinced they were innocent and tried to stop the prosecution, which generated much controversy. Ragnar Fagereng was ultimately acquitted, while his wife was convicted. The case later became known as a miscarriage of justice, after a gangster confessed to terrorizing the Fagereng family in the 1990s and manipulating the police to prosecute them, and the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission reopened the case in 2010, resulting in the acquittal of Fagereng's wife.

Honours

He was appointed as a commander of the Order of the Falcon in 1997. He received the highest award of the Norwegian police force, the

Norwegian Police Cross of Honour The Norwegian Police Cross of Honour () is a medal which is awarded by the head of the National Police Directorate of Norway to Norwegian police personnel for helping to prevent loss of life or damage to equipment and property by act of ingenuity ...

, in 2002, after leaving office as chief of police of Bergen. He received the Clear Speech Prize in 1996, after he had authorized a protest against the visiting Chinese President; when asked if he was aware that Chinese authorities did not like protests, he responded that "here in Bergen, I am the one who makes the decisions"."Politimester fikk pris for klar tale," ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' 12 October 1996, p. 6

Selected works

;Law and policing *''Privatrett for elever ved Politiskolen'', 1976 *''Alminnelig strafferett for elever ved Politiskolen'', 1977, 1985 *''Kriminologi for elever ved Politiskolen'', 1978 *''Ordenspolititjeneste for elever ved Politiskolen'', 1979 *''Politimessig lederskap'', 1980 *''Alminnelig strafferett'', 1989 *''Ordenstjeneste for studenter ved Politihøgskolen'', 1994 *''Politistrategi : belyst gjennom praktisk politiarbeid'', Universitetsforlaget, 2007 *''Strafferett'', 2 vols., 2014 ;History *''Mine tippoldeforeldre Henriethe og Benjamin Wegner forteller'', 2013 *''Barkskipet «Dronningen» af Fredrikshald og kaptein Ludvig Bernhard Martinsen'', 2012 *''Oldefar Heinrich Wegner forteller'', 2010 *''Andreas Vibe: «Onkel major», 1801–1860'', 2009 *"Halden gamle fengsel," in ''Wiwar : gammelt fra Østfold på ny måte'', 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegner, Rolf B 1940 births Living people People from Ålesund People from Halden University of Oslo alumni Norwegian civil servants Norwegian police chiefs Norwegian jurists Directors of government agencies of Norway Norwegian non-fiction writers Recipients of the Order of the Falcon