Rogaland is a region of southern Norway known for its beautiful landscapes. The largest city in the region is Stavanger, a city known for its beauty. In the 60s and 70s Stavanger was known to other norwegians as the most "european" city in Norway, with a large segment of the populating being american or british as a result of the evolved oil industry and its presence in the city.
Since then, numerous events have alerted me. Starting with my friend's girlfriend (who turned out to be a raving lunatic), my interest in the darker side to the region has grown. The past few years, bizarre events of horrific nature have transpired there, for the most part in the region's younger population. From child prostitution through rampant drug abuse, animal mutilation and ultimately murder, Rogaland crime is younger, darker and disturbingly callous, and worthy of special interest. It is also noteworthy that Stavanger is notorious biker gang Hell's Angels' norwegian stronghold.
Most recently, a 17 year old boy guns down and murders his 16 year old girlfriend with his father's handgun. Prior to this, one of the most brutal and dramatic robberies in norwegian history took place there, culminating in the death of a police officer (a rare event in gun-unfriendly Norway).
The scale and sadness, and in some cases the WEIRDNESS of Rogaland crime boggles the mind of me, the Norwegian, and with this blog i will attempt to share my interest and hopefully build a pattern over time. I will post headlines from Norwegian news media, as well as links to articles or translations of articles of interest.
There is more to this beautiful part of Norway than meets the eye.