The government agency is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and has 16,000 employees, of which 8,000 are police officers.

In addition to police powers, the service is responsible for border control, certain civil duties, coordinating search and rescue operations, counterterrorism, highway patrolling, writ of execution, criminal investigation and prosecution.

Originally the 60 to 80 sheriffs (lensmann) were predominantly used for writ of execution and to a less degree police power.

With the introduction of the absolute monarchy in 1660 and subsequent strengthening of the civil service, the importance of the police increased.

Following the democratization in 1814, the Ministry of Justice was created in 1818 and has since had the primary responsibility for organizing the police force.

Christiania established the country's first uniformed corps of constables in 1859, which gave the force a more unified appearance.

[5] The Criminal Investigation Service was established in 1959,[4] and the search and rescue system with two joint coordination centers and sub-centers for each police district was created in 1970.

[8] The police school became a university college in 1993 and introduced a three-year education; in 1998 a second campus opened in Bodø.

[10] The Gjørv Report following the 2011 Norway attacks criticized several aspects of the police force, labeling the work as "unacceptable".

It conducts management and supervision of the specialist agencies and police districts, including organizational development and support activities.

It both works as an assistant unit for police districts, with special focus on technical and tactical investigation, in addition to being responsible on its own for organized crime.

[15] The National Police Immigration Service registers and identifies asylum seekers and returns those which have their applications rejected.

Duties include environmental policy, family law, law enforcement, search and rescue, tourism management, information services, contact with foreign settlements, and abjudication in some areas of maritime inquiries and judicial examinations—albeit never in the same cases as acting as police.

[7] The police have a series of functions related to public management, such as the issuing of passports and national identity cards,[32] firearms licenses, police certificates, permissions for lotteries and withdrawal of driving licenses, approval of security guard companies and bouncers, recommendations to municipal councils for issuing alcohol sales licenses, approval of second-hand shops and arrangements which are otherwise unlawful, dealing with unowned dogs and animals in the care of people sentenced unsuitable to hold animals.

Norway participates in a series of international police cooperation, such as Interpol, Europol, the Schengen Information System, Frontex, and the Baltic Sea Task Force on Organized Crime.

[35] The Norwegian Persecuting Authority is led by the Director General of Public Prosecutions,[36] which since 1997 has been Tor-Aksel Busch.

[37] The director general makes decisions of indictment in cases with a maximum penalty of twenty-one years and certain other serious crimes.

The regional public prosecution offices take decisions regarding cases not covered by the director general or the police prosecutors.

If the police wish to keep apprehended people in detention, the issue is brought to the relevant district court, a process which may be repeated several times if the custody needs to be extended.

During investigation, the case may be concluded as a non-criminal offense, dismissed, or transferred to another police district.

Minor cases with a positive finding may be resolved by police penalty notice, settlement by a conflict resolution board and withdrawal of prosecution.

If positive, the trial will take place at a district court, with a police prosecutor presiding over the case.

[7] Although there no longer is a formal requirement for such an education, the role as prosecutor effectively hinders others from holding the position.

However, each employee must undergo 40 hours of yearly training, including firearms practice, to keep their operational certification.

[33] Each police district may dictate that operational personnel have a higher amount of training, for instance 80 hours is required in Oslo.

[48] The federation have nonetheless undertaken several actions, including collective sick leave to close a police station and by members sabotaging courses by not participating.

[61] As late as 2012 servers were still being run with Windows NT 4.0 from 1996 and log-on times were typically twenty minutes.

[63] The police have a system to raise a national alarm to close border crossings and call in reserve personnel.

[64] Since 2009 it has been possible to report criminal damage and theft of wallets, bicycles and mobile telephones without a known perpetrator(s) online.

[66] The system is uses Terrestrial Trunked Radio and allows for a common public safety network for all emergency agencies.