The strain on the Special Unit in the news on Morgunblaðið, Vísir and RÚV
Varða's analysis Forget Me Not was covered by Morgunblaðið, Vísir and RÚV on the day of publication. The head of analysis at the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police called the workload a strain, and the Minister of Justice said the unit could easily number 70–80 officers.
Varða's analysis of the strain on the Special Unit of the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, Forget Me Not, reached Iceland's main news outlets on the day it was published. Morgunblaðið reported the key findings on the morning of 24 September: the unit's armed call-outs rose from 56 in 2014 to 424 in 2025, while 46 officers served in the unit — ten fewer than authorised.
Vísir and RÚV followed up. Karl Steinar Valsson, head of the analysis department at the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, told RÚV the findings came as no surprise given how the nature of police work has changed over the past fifteen years, and that his office was in close dialogue with the government on a response. Speaking to mbl.is, he said the National Commissioner had for years urged the government to fund the authorised positions. The unit has managed to answer every call-out, “but this is a strain.”
“These are expensive tasks; public safety is expensive. Living in a safe society comes at a cost.”
Karl Steinar Valsson, head of analysis at the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, on RÚV
The minister wants a larger unit
Later the same day, Minister of Justice Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir presented plans to merge Iceland's nine police districts into three. Asked about the rise in armed call-outs, she told mbl.is the situation was regrettable and that the Special Unit could easily number 70–80 officers. She sees larger, more capable police districts and a stronger Special Unit as going hand in hand.
Varða recommends that the first step be to fund the ten positions that have already been authorised, at an estimated ISK 300–400 million a year. The National Commissioner should also be tasked with assessing and regularly publishing the unit's staffing and investment needs, so that the debate rests on data rather than individual incidents.
Forget Me NotThe Special Unit has met a sevenfold rise in armed call-outs with near-unchanged staffing. Funding and a long-term plan are needed.Read → 
