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This is the third in the Northern Police Research Webinar Series for Spring 2025.
Iceland is one of five Western countries where police do not carry firearms. In 2022, however, the Minister of Justice sidestepped parliamentary procedure to allow officers to carry Tasers. This intensified the debate over police use of force—the highest level of which is firearms use. It also raises the question of what Icelandic police students think about the possibility of officers carrying firearms. This study examines police students’ attitudes towards routine police armament using panel data for incoming and graduating students from the University of Akureyri from 2019-2024. Few incoming and graduating students (15% and 11%) favour armament. Findings for a paired sample show a significant shift over the two-year studies, with many initial supporters becoming opponents by graduation. Trends across cohorts show support declining from 2019 but increasing in 2024, reflecting potential influences from recent policy changes and public and political discourse. Multinomial regression reveals that men, conservatives, and students with extra-legal attitudes towards police work are more likely to favour routine armament, although the effects of these factors diminish by graduation.
Guðmundur Oddsson is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Akureyri and was an assistant professor at Northern Michigan University from 2014 to 2017. His research focuses on social control, deviance and class inequality, particularly the subjective dimensions of class.
Margrét Valdimarsdóttir is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Iceland. She previously was an Associate Professor of Police Science at the University of Akureyri. Margrét earned her Ph.D. in Criminology from CUNY in New York in 2020. Her research primarily focuses on youth risk behavior, policing, and the long-term consequences of punitive interventions.
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