Norway appoints new police chief

Norway chose a new chief of police to replace Oeystein Maeland, who resigned after a state issued report suggested that last year's attack that killed 77 people could have been prevented.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Odd Reidar Humlegard, who has been heading Norway's national unit combating organized and serious crimes since 2009, was appointed on Friday by Justice and Public Security Minister Grete Faremo.

"This was a surprise," Humlegard told reporters. "I'm starting Monday, planning a significant program to change the police. It will be organized as a project with external resources. We will also make leadership changes."

Humlegard's predecessor, Maeland, took over as police chief just days before mass killer Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 people in a bombing and gun attack in July of last year, Reuters reported.

While a police report about the tragedy had concluded that the police did an adequate job, three days ago, an independent commission had a much harsher take on the police response, the BBC said.

According to the commission the police took an "unacceptable" time to respond, and determined that the police could have in fact prevented the bombing if they were better prepared.