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Halden Prison

Halden Prison
Interior in Halden prison.jpg
Interior of the prison
Location Halden, Norway
Coordinates 59°8′25.703″N 11°17′11.55″E / 59.14047306°N 11.2865417°E / 59.14047306; 11.2865417Coordinates: 59°8′25.703″N 11°17′11.55″E / 59.14047306°N 11.2865417°E / 59.14047306; 11.2865417
Status Operational
Security class Maximum
Capacity 248–252 (see notes)
Population 251 (as of 2015)
Opened April 8, 2010 (2010-04-08)
Managed by Norwegian Correctional Services
Governor Are Høidal
Website www.haldenfengsel.no

Halden Prison (Norwegian: Halden fengsel) is a maximum-security prison in Halden, Norway. It has three main units and receives prisoners from all over the world, but has no conventional security devices. The second-largest prison in Norway, it was established in 2010 with a focus on rehabilitation; its design simulates life outside the prison. Among other activities, sports and music are available to the prisoners, who interact with the unarmed staff to create a sense of community. Praised for its humane conditions, Halden Prison has received the Arnstein Arneberg Award for its interior design in 2010 and been the subject of a documentary, but has also received criticism for being too liberal.

Located in Halden, Østfold, Norway, Halden Prison was built over 10 years at a cost of 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($252 million/£138 million). The prison received its first inmates on March 1, 2010 and was officially opened on April 8 by the Norwegian King Harald V. It is Norway's second-largest prison with a capacity of 248–252 prisoners and a site of 75 acres (30 ha).

As a maximum-security prison, it hosts dangerous as well as highly dangerous criminals, such as rapists, murderers, and child molesters. They compose half of the population, while a third of the residents are drug offenders. Sex offenders, who may face violence from other inmates, and prisoners who require close psychiatric or medical supervision, are located in Unit A, a restrictive and separated area. There is also a special unit (C8) focused on addiction recovery. Most inmates live in Units B and C, which are freer and have mixed cell blocks. Halden Prison receives both domestic and international criminals; as only around three-fifths of the prisoners are Norwegians (as of 2015), both Norwegian and English are used, and the prison has English teachers. However, fluency in Norwegian is a requirement to live in C8, because group and individual counseling is conducted in Norwegian.

There are no conventional security devices, such as barbed tape, electric fences, towers, or snipers. However, there is safety glass, a 6 meter × 1.5 kilometer (6.5 ft × 1 mi) concrete and steel wall, and a system of underground tunnels which guards use to walk through the prison. Although there are surveillance cameras on the prison grounds, they are not present in the cells, the cell hallways, the common rooms, the classrooms, and most of the workshops. While there is little violence reported, almost exclusively in Unit A, officers try to prevent it. If two inmates have a dispute, they engage in a mediation session under staff supervision. If mediation fails, repeated misbehavior or rule violations are punished with cell confinement or prison transference.


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