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Of: TT
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1 of 3 | Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT
Henrik Andersen, head of the Öresund Border Center in Tårnby, Denmark, and Torben Svarrer, chief general of the center’s Copenhagen Police.
Weapons, drugs, explosives and black money flow between Denmark and Sweden, in both directions.
Since crime is cross-border, Danish and Swedish police are trying to do it too.
In Gränscenter Öresund, the police and police work hand in hand.
Henrik Andersen, director of the new center in Danish Tårnby a few kilometers from the Öresund bridge, has already been asked about the parallels with the bridge too many times. But he thinks we can forget about Saga Norén and his fellow police officers. It is true that the Swedish-Danish police cooperation has taken a big step forward, but it is not like in the television series.
– It will probably never be as integrated as in Bron. And that the Swedish and Danish police would conduct their own investigations in each other’s countries, I can’t see it in front of me, says Henrik Andersen.
On the other hand, the Danish police may be present when the Swedish police carry out house searches and arrests in Sweden and vice versa. This has been the case for a long time, but the fact that Danish and Swedish police officers since the beginning of September now also share a workplace in Gränscenter Öresund makes the cooperation more seamless.
So far, only two Swedish policemen and one Swedish customs officer work here, but there will be more.
“Urgent development”
– For us, this is an urgent and positive development, says Jarl Holmström, regional deputy chief of police in southern Sweden.
The Scanian police are used to working closely with the Danish police, but have relied heavily on informal contacts.
– We now also have a formal point of contact, which will drive all this work. This makes it easier for us to carry out joint evaluations and priorities. We entered an earlier stage of discussion on various issues.
The Border Center Öresund will fight against organized criminals dealing with explosives, arms smuggling and drug trafficking, as well as international robbery gangs that move through the region.
“It moves more”
– In general, within organized crime, there are contacts across national borders. We know this and it is nothing new, but what we have seen in recent years is that criminals move more and help each other more, says Torben Svarrer of the Copenhagen Police, who is the head general of the center.
The idea of a special border center was launched by the Danish government last fall after notable serious crimes in Denmark that were suspected of being related to Sweden.
At the same time, point-by-point border controls were introduced at the Öresund bridge and at the ferry ports with traffic to Sweden.
– The government takes the situation very seriously. We do not accept that criminal gangs plant bombs or shoot in the street, said Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup (S).
Better overview
About half of the Danish staff at the center are civilian analysts. By collecting information and sharing intelligence between Denmark and Sweden, the center’s employees will contribute to a better overview of cross-border crime.
– We also hope to contribute by saying when to do border control and what and who to look for. We can outsmart before, says Henrik Andersen.
In the political debate, it has sometimes seemed that the main problem is that Swedish crime is exported to Denmark, but according to Henrik Andersen and Torben Svarrer, it is not possible to say in which direction the flow is greatest.
“Crime has no language”
– It cannot be said that all evil comes from Sweden and that here in Denmark everything is as it should be. There is reciprocity in this, I’m sure, says Henrik Andersen.
It’s about supply and demand, Torben Svarrer explains, giving an example: If a person living in Sweden finds a shipment of arms, it is not uncommon for the shipment of arms to be smuggled into Sweden via Denmark. When the customer has to sell the weapons, there may be buyers in Denmark, which means that the same weapon travels back and forth across the Öresund bridge.
– Crime has no language. It is not that difficult for criminals to sign cross-border agreements, if we talk about weapons or drugs, for example, says Torben Svarrer.
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