Mr. Good: Cop or Crook? (Mr. Good? Gåten Eirik Jensen)

A NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Shall we start at the beginning?

I would say if you put all your cards on the table,

that you've made amends. Then you're untouchable.

We can start with that. What is this person's name?

Eirik.

- Surname? - Jensen.

The former police officer Eirik Jensen...

- Eirik Jensen... - Eirik Jensen...

Jensen. Jensen...

...has been charged with smuggling several tons of hashish to Norway,

as well as corruption for several million krone.

Eirik Jensen is one of the most trusted police officers in Norway.

- - There's another blast!

When the police needed to clean up, they used Eirik.

I'm also a man of dialogue. I speak to a lot of communities.

He was closer to the criminals than his own colleagues.

This is, in fact,

one of the most incredible crime stories in modern times.

The most orderly cop I've dealt with in my time.

Soft around the edges, but he made things work.

This is a case that raises more questions than it answers.

So I thought, "Damn, did he fool me? Did he fool us?"

Jensen. Do you plead guilty of this charge?

No.

How could it be

that one of Norway's most trusted police officers

is suddenly in danger of receiving the law's maximum sentence?

Is Jensen a cop or a crook?

Eirik Jensen holds the answers. Eirik Jensen has the whole story.

But he's not telling it.

INTERVIEW EIRIK JENSEN - TAKE 3

EIRIK JENSEN, THE ENIGMA

I've been sentenced to Norway's maximum punishment,

twenty-one years in prison.

Every day I'm in here

is another wasted day.

I think about everything I'm missing out on.

Everything is gone.

I've in no way come to terms with the situation I find myself in.

It's a catastrophe for me.

It's a catastrophe for my family.

That's what I sit in my cell and think about.

Day in and day out, it's always on my mind. Why did it happen?

NORWAY - SWEDEN

The f ormer police commander Eirik Jensen

is charged with severe drug crimes and corruption.

The most important witness is Gjermund Cappelen.

In court, Cappelen explained how he for almost 30 years

smuggled so much hashish that it arrived in large trucks.

...with the help of Jensen.

Jensen claims Cappelen

has only been his informant for all these years.

Gjermund Cappelen has been one

of my best informants for years.

I let him get close to me.

I've helped him with a lot of critical and difficult situations.

And when he then chooses to stab me in the back like he did,

I didn't expect that.

I've been a policeman for more than 30 years.

POLICE

And have for most of that time worked in organized crime and narcotics.

That's the paradox.

That I've allegedly done the exact opposite.

Namely that of being a criminal who has earned a pile of money

by being dirty.

And that's my claim. I am not.

My name is John Malden.

I've been in the police force for 33 years.

Uh, surveillance, the Uro-patrol, organized crime.

You could say I've had an active police career.

You are stepping into a world,

with its own... its own codex.

And if you don't understand that world's codex,

you won't be able to communicate with the criminals themselves.

When it comes to the Eirik Jensen case,

you have to understand where he's coming from

and what kind of methods were used back in the day.

And if people don't understand that, they won't understand Jensen.

In the capitol, people have gone to bed.

Evening has become nighttime.

That's when the Uro-squad make their move.

- Yes, hello. - It's Eirik.

- Who? - Eirik Jensen.

You'll remember if you think about it. I need to talk to you.

- I come in peace. - That won't work.

Think carefully now.

Police!

Stand still!

- What's this, then? - Look at this.

Merchandise, guys!

I would say Eirik Jensen is one

of the most fascinating police personalities.

in recent Norwegian history.

When you see Eirik Jensen, hear him speak,

you think that he doesn't look like a cop.

In my opinion, he was quite scruffy and not like most policemen.

Jeans, earring, ponytail.

He was quite unorthodox.

In my opinion, Jensen represents the old school.

His time with the Uro during the 80s is...

...it's almost like watching a Dirty Harry movie.

You have drugs up your ass. Can you take them out?

- Yes. - You're taking them out yourself?

It was a completely different regime to what it is today.

I've found about ten and a half ounces,

plus some money.

The initial spark came when I joined the Uro-patrol.

I wanted to be the best at what I did.

Meaning informants, investigations and thinking creatively.

That's what drove me.

Eirik Jensen worked an incredible amount in his time

with the Uro-patrol.

And everyone was impressed by his efficiency,

his contact with the criminal world,

and last but not least,

the results he delivered.

Already in the '80s,

Eirik Jensen started recruiting informants from different parts of society.

And, uh, most people generally don't want to be informants.

It's not a want. It's not something people want.

But by catching them with drugs,

or that they are in situations where they need to get out,

you can sometimes turn people into informants.

And Eirik Jensen was clearly good at it.

An informant is someone who reports to the police

on happenings in the criminal world.

He's often a criminal himself.

Being an informant, or snitch as the criminals call it,

is one of the most dangerous things to do.

It could lead to death, even with just a suspicion.

Informant handling is basically an extremely cynical business.

When people are in vulnerable situations,

you have to take advantage of that to get what you want.

In this environment, you have to use all the tricks.

Manipulation.

A pat on the back.

You're dealing with hardcore people who never trust anyone.

You have to gain their trust.

You play to their premise.

Which means you give something to get something.

And you help out when they have a problem.

That builds trust, and I receive information.

I've dealt with a lot of different people and personalities

over the last 26, 27 years.

So obviously, I've pushed the boundaries

and maybe sometimes crossed those boundaries.

And nobody did anything but give you a pat you on the back

because you got it done.

My first meeting with Eirik Jensen was back in the 1980s.

I knew Eirik Jensen as a stable, good colleague.

Uh, somewhat stubborn.

You had to have really good reasons

for solving a case differently to how Eirik Jensen suggested.

One of Eirik Jensen's traits was that he didn't like bosses.

We could both agree on how to do something in my office,

and he would leave and do something completely different.

I didn't have much contact with him. He never asked for anything.

After the fact, I can say

I should have controlled him more.

Besides being unorthodox and, uh, difficult to control,

there weren't any big problems

He gave us lots of information.

Solved cases, so we were satisfied, right?

He had his own way of doing police work

that often produced major results.

Let's see.

EIRIK JENSEN'S EX-WIFE CECILIE BLEGEBERG

So this is Eirik in the Philippines.

It was nice and warm.

We lived in a cosy little bamboo hut.

This is when Eirik wanted to get a tattoo.

He thought he was so tough.

Well, Eirik and I met...

We actually met through work.

He worked with the police in a unit called Uro.

Uh, I struggle with my Norwegian.

The Uro-patrol.

- - I worked at Smuget.

And my dear bosses at Smuget wanted to keep Smuget free of drugs.

So that's why I got in touch with Eirik

and asked him if they wanted to become our guests and members.

My bosses and I, we thought that if the police visit a nightclub,

the crooks will avoid it.

And it worked great.

He was shy.

In private, he was shy.

He was standing there with his thumbs in his jeans

and kicked shyly in the dirt, looking down bashfully.

But I saw that he was in love.

And he had flirty eyes.

That made me feel safe.

It could be a bit dangerous to work in a nightclub

where we had guests who got angry when we wouldn't let them in and so on.

I thought that, "No. I have Eirik, the policeman."

"He can protect me from anything. It's not dangerous."

Ah, it's so strange to think back on this.

Because I didn't know what I know now.

He always wanted to be right.