PST is a special police service under the authority of the Ministry of Justice. This means that we are part of the Norwegian police. PST is not a specialist agency (as are e.g. Økokrim and Kripos), but is of the same rank as the National Police Directorate.
Both PST and the National Police Directorate have organisational lines of command to the police districts. The Director General of The Norwegian Police Security Service has authority superior to that of the country’s chiefs of police in relation to PST issues, with the exception of the Commissioner of Police in Oslo. (In Oslo, PST Headquarters carries out all PST-related work.) The Police Directorate has authority superior to all police districts in relation to administrative issues that do not relate to PST cases (and that are not prosecution issues, since the Police Directorate is not part of the prosecuting authority).
In Norway we have one police force, and all Norwegian police bodies are subject to the same fundamental principles and guidelines. This model of policing is often referred to as a “unitary police service”, and the same model can be found in other Nordic countries. In our Nordic neighbouring countries, the national security service is similarly part of the police service, under the authority of the Ministry of Justice.
It is a very advantageous to have a security service that is part of the police. In this way we can ensure a close relationship between the service and the rest of the police. Having PST local offices in all police districts ensures a decentralised service.