Statspolitiet

Statspolitiet
Emblem of Statspolitiet contained Nasjonal Samling's sun cross with eagle.
Emblem of Statspolitiet contained Nasjonal Samling's sun cross with eagle.
AbbreviationSTAPO
Agency overview
Formed1 June 1941 (1941-06-01)
Dissolved8 May 1945 (1945-05-08)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionGerman occupied Norway

Statspolitiet (transl. the State Police; shortened STAPO) was from 1941 to 1945 a National Socialist armed police force that consisted of Norwegian officials after Nazi German pattern. It operated independently of the ordinary Norwegian police. The force was established on 1 June 1941 during the German occupation of Norway. The initiative for the force came from the later chief Karl Marthinsen and other prominent members of the collaborationist party Nasjonal Samling. At its peak, in 1944 there were 350 employees in Statspolitiet, in addition to a larger number who collaborated or rendered services for them.[1]

Vidkun Quisling (left) and Reichskommissar Josef Terboven (center) inspects an honor company of Statspolitiet officers in 1942.