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FIGURE 7. Prison facilities, top Kragskovhade Prison, where walls and other visible security restrains are eschewed in order to enhance rehabilitation efforts. bottom A cell occupied by artist prisoner at maximum security Vridlosalille State Prison (U/OU) (pictures)
chief constables, since they act as public prosecutors in criminal and lesser cases. In addition, the constables and their assistants act for the state in such matters as domestic relations, adoption, marriages, and public health.
The Danish State Police are civil servants, whose pay is commensurate with that of other civil service positions of similar responsibility. The force in 1971 totaled 3,037 men. The Highway Traffic Patrol has responsibility for monitoring traffic throughout the country without regard to police district boundaries. A Mobile Division provides additional policemen for special occasions, such as royal visits, festivals, and political demonstrations. Policemen in regular service throughout Denmark are earmarked for such emergency use. The Criminal Investigation Division renders assistance to local authorities in cases involving serious crimes, particularly murder - normally on request of the district chief constable. In addition, a central police laboratory and four district laboratories provide technicians to aid in the examination of the scene of a crime. The Aliens Section controls entry into and exit from the country, including within its functions passport control in the port and airport facilities of the greater Copenhagen area.
2. Correctional prisons
The Scandinavian countries have pioneered the concept that prison should serve fundamentally to rehabilitate. Their success is attested to by the relatively low incidence of recidivism throughout the area. The burdens of the State Police in Denmark are eased by a prison system which adapts with considerable success modern penal theory to local circumstances. The convict is regarded as an individual who is to be detained long enough to be rehabilitated and then is returned to society, convinced of the wisdom of a lawful way of life. Prisons are generally modern and clean and are designed to provide a measure of privacy and even homelike conditions. Security measures, particularly at institutions for minor offenders, are unobtrusive. There are extensive probation programs, and a prisoner can earn the right to leave prison from time to time for family visits. Two institutions are reserved for the chronic or mentally defective criminal. Usually committed for an indefinite term, this offender receives treatment from a staff of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers, who seek to prepare him for an existence divorced from his antisocial past. He may be permitted to pursue his hobby.
G. Selected bibliography (U/OU)
Several recent publications in English shed light on the government and politics of Denmark. The most comprehensive and reliable overall study, albeit now slightly dated politically, is the official handbook, Denmark, 1971, put out by the Press and Information Office of the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Basic political data from this work may be updated by topical cross-referencing with Facts about Denmark (Copenhagen, 1972) - a concise English language encyclopedia reference published by the prestigious newspaper Politiken, which touches on most significant political and administrative topics. Kenneth E. Miller, Government and Politics in Denmark (Boston, 1968), a still indispensable general guide through the thoroughfares and, most of the byways of Danish national and local government, should be consulted in conjunction with Facts about Denmark and the handbook Denmark. A geographic history in the broadest sense, tracing regional development through the evolving social, political, and economic life, is Scandinavia (London, 1972) by Brian Fullerton and Alan F. Williams. Scandinavia (London, 1972) by W.R. Mead and Wendy Hall, is a somewhat concise and general handbook, providing
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