The Norwegian police to attend EuroPride 2014 in Oslo

Commitment and participation by the Norwegian police during EuroPride. 

The city of Oslo is the proud host of this year’s EuroPride, which will be held from the 20th to 29th of June 2014. 

EuroPride is a festival organized in a European city every year. One of the goals is to take a positive stance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people and to celebrate freedom of sexuality and gender diversity. The police have in previous years taken an active part in EuroPride in several European cities. Now the Norwegian police will follow up on this tradition and take visibly part throughout the whole event in Oslo. 

A workgroup has been established consisting of staff from the Norwegian Police Academy, The National Police Directorate, The Police association and the Oslo police. 

“Our main goal by participating at EuroPride 2014 is to build trust and convey that we are ‘one police for all’”, says deputy police Chief Sveinung Sponheim from the Oslo police district. 

An example to follow 
Oslo Pride are the organizers of EuroPride 2014. Chairperson Stein Runar Østigaard says the commitment shown by the Norwegian police is an example other government agencies, NGOs and organizations should follow. 

“The police deserve all the praise they can get. Their participation enriches our pride in many ways. It is brilliant that the police use the festival as a venue for recruitment, to make publicly known their efforts to combat hate crime against LGBT, and, not least, their participation emphasizes that the police is and should be an inclusive place to work,” says Østigaard. 

Østigaard says there still is room for other government agencies, NGOs and organizations who wants to participate at EuroPride. 

“We hope many others now will be inspired by the work the Norwegian police put into EuroPride. Their participation sends important signals to all employees and to the society in total. And it shows that the police takes LGBT issues seriously, says Østigaard.” 

The Norwegian police has three main objectives by attending EuroPride: 

• To create a feeling of security and confidence among LGBT employees in the police
  
• Demonstrate the police as a diverse profession, and use the festival as a venue for recruitment for police training  
  
• Inform the public about the police work against hate crime
  

This will be achieved through:

Visible participation in the EuroPride Parade on Saturday June 28th:  
For many years police in uniform have participated in the Pride Parade in Oslo. This year’s goal is to have a record number of people walking under the police banner in the parade. In order to make this possible, police employees from all over the country are invited to come to Oslo to attend the EuroPride Parade. There will also be made custom T-shirts for civilian employee’s in the police who wish to join the fun. 

Visibility of the Police Academy in Pride Park June 25th-28th: 
During the festival, various organizations and businesses have stands in Pride Park at the City Hall Square. The Police Academy and Oslo police will have a joint stand where everyone can get information about recruitment to the police profession. 

Information on police work against hate crimes June 21st and 22nd: 
In conjunction with the EuroPride various debates and lectures are held at the House of Literature – Oslo Prides Pride House. One of the topics will be the police efforts to combat hate crime.