ChangeFactory has, since 2009, collected experiences and advice from children and young people who have encountered the police and the justice system. This knowledge has been shared with politicians, ministers, and government officials. In 2023, the Norwegian Police Directorate developed a national guideline, “The Police’s Meetings with Children.” Many of the inputs from children and young people across Norway were taken seriously in this work, together with contributions from research and professional practice.

https://www.politiet.no/globalassets/dokumenter-strategier-og-horinger/nasjonal-retningslinje-for-politiets-moter-med-barn.pdf

Examples from the guideline of issues that are important to children:

Children must be given information and the opportunity to express their views before the police share information about them:
“It is important for the child to know what information the police share with others and when this happens. For example, it is not necessarily in the child’s best interests to share all information with the child’s parents or guardians. When the police consider notifying parents or guardians, or have a legal duty to notify — for instance child welfare services — the police must inform the child in advance that they are required to give such notification. Regardless of the police’s duty to notify, the child must be given the opportunity to express their views before the notification takes place.”

Strict conditions must apply to the use of physical force against children:
“As a general rule, force may only be used against children when:

• it is strictly necessary
• all other measures have been attempted and have proven insufficient
• the purpose of using force is to prevent immediate harm to the child or others.”

To our knowledge, there is currently no overview of how these guidelines are being implemented in practice across the police districts in Norway.