Norrköping’s Police Authority (1874-1879)
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Norrköping’s Police Authority was founded on March 18, 1825 by the King of Sweden.
Unofficially, however, Norrköping’s Police department had a Police Authority from
1822. In certain larger cities, Police Authorities were established to work with
the magistrates as a supervisor over police activities (in Sweden, magistrates existed
from medieval times until the municipal reforms of 1862 and were the highest decision-making
body in cities with their own legal system). Police Authorities disappeared when
policing was taken over by the State in 1965. The Police Authority was located centrally
in Stockholm, where it was a part of the governor of the Royal Castle and there
were divisions for Gothenburg, Malmö, Eskilstuna, Karlskrona, Örebro and Norrköping.
The role of the Police Authority was to investigate, prosecute and sentence in smaller
cases. There were two different Police Authorities. One comprised a police chief
with a pair of assistants, who oversaw both judging and other police activities.
In the second, activities were divided into two departments: one for judging and
the other (including the police chief) for other police activities.
The transcribed material has served as a kind of police information. When a prisoner
was set free, information about the prisoner was sent to the different Police Authorities
which made it possible to supervise the prisoner. The principal register consists
of a main register and a register of portraits. The digitalised register is Norrköping's
Police Authority's register with information collected from the main register and
the register of portraits for male prisoners in Sweden during the 18th century containing
3.500 records with information about:
Register from Norrköping’s Police Authority
- Profession
- Name
- Date set free
- City where the prisoner was (nationally) registered
- Date of birth
- Parish
- County
- Information about previous committed crimes
- Sentence, from which authority and date
- Punishment and when the prisoner started to do time
- City to which the prisoner was sent away to
- Amount – own money and money saved from earnings during prison time
- Description and other distinguishing features
- Portrait of the prisoner
The database of Norrköping’s Police Authority covers the period 1874–1888,
volumes DVE:1–13. The transcription from the original tomes to the on-line databases
has maintained the notation, spelling, etc. of the original documents. The exception
is that dates have been written in the modern style, to be more compatible with
on-line searching. All transcription was done directly from the originals and the
Regional Archives in Vadstena, Sweden, supplied all the fines registers.
ArkivData in Norrköping have carried out digitalization of the originals. The register
contains 3 500 records and is only available in Swedish.
Regional Archives in Vadstena, Norrköping’s Police Authority, 1874–1888,
volumes DVE:1–13. Linköping University Electronic Press, https://doi.org/10.3384/db.polis
