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Last weekend, Deputy Chief of Police Noa Chief Mats Löfving drew attention when in Ekot’s interview on Saturday he claimed that there are around 40 family criminal clans who came to Sweden solely for the purpose of organizing the crime.
– Certainly there are people who have come here to commit crimes and certainly there are people who have come for other reasons. We have intelligence that says that there are people who have come to our country to commit crimes because there is a great opportunity. So I cannot answer to what extent, says the head of the National Police Anders Thornberg to DN.
In the long term, these networks form a great threat to society, he believes.
– It is important that politicians and other decision makers are aware that such organizations exist and so that action can be taken. We have the example of Södertälje where large resources were invested. It has improved, but it may flare up again. It is important that we do not get groups that are outside society with their own administration of justice and parallel social structures.
You say that “the police say how it is“ but this is the first time that a police officer has described the situation so clearly. Why haven’t you warned yourself before?
– The problems we are dealing with now are based on particularly vulnerable areas, that is the central problem. In these areas there are networks of flexible composition and there are also some family-based networks and there are other organizations and individuals that commit crimes. We have developed the model with particularly vulnerable areas so we want to be able to invest resources and draw the attention of society to the fact that this is a major problem.
The picture is that not all police chiefs I want to speak in terms of clans. How do you look at it?
– I say family networks, but they can certainly also be clans. What the police look at are the individuals who commit crimes, so there may be systems and organizations that create the conditions for it. But in Sweden it is not illegal to belong to a certain group or a certain gang, at least not yet. Therefore, we focus on the most criminal individuals, then describe the circumstances in which they operate.
We must eliminate criminals along with other authorities and we must make earlier interventions with faster prosecution.
To access the problems here and now there is a greater police presence, according to the head of the National Police. The police must work in the same way they did to suppress organized crime during Operation Rimfrost.
– We check vehicles, we search for stairs and we are in the geographical places where criminals stay. We punctuate the most criminals and pester them day and night. We must eliminate criminals along with other authorities and we must make earlier interventions with faster prosecution.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Mikael Damberg (S) is one of the reasons that family networks have been able to grow so much over decades that the police have not been present in vulnerable areas. What do you answer to that?
– My opinion is that the whole of Swedish society has been active in these areas too late, but that the police came out early. We have developed the model with particularly vulnerable areas to be able to add resources. Now we see that more and more government agencies are moving into these areas and I think it is important if we want to address the issues.
It’s not just about to access family networks. It is time for the rest of society to start taking more responsibility to stop the new recruitment of young people for organized crime, emphasizes Thornberg.
– What is difficult for me, as Chief of the National Police, is that it is not clear in the chain of responsibilities when it comes to the first efforts and measures to stifle growth. It is full of prisons and institutions and we have taken more weapons than ever. However, the shootings and explosions are on the same level.
Schools and social services must be strengthened to be able to intervene earlier and there must be clear consequences for those who make mistakes early, believes the head of the National Police.
How do you think municipalities handle their share of crime prevention work?
– They are different. I welcome the proposal that I heard in the government statement to give municipalities a legal obligation to implement crime prevention measures. In some municipalities things are going very well, but there must be resources.
Anders Thornberg has continuous contact with the municipalities and regions of Sweden, SKR. He hopes that they will help organize the crime prevention work of the municipalities.
– We do not make any demands on SKR, but it is important that they continue to support the municipalities and that we have a meeting platform where we can discuss and work together on these issues.
Read more:
The Expert: That’s why we should call them clans
Kerim: “The reality is that there are clans”
Parts of the police don’t want to talk about the concept of clans
Leader: S and Peab’s downfall shows how clans gained power in Sweden
