[ad_1]
Of: TT
Published:
Photo: Ali Lorestani / TT
Rinkeby / Tensta in Stockholm is one of 22 areas in Sweden that the police classify as particularly vulnerable. Stock Photography.
How come there are 60 areas in Sweden that the police consider vulnerable or particularly vulnerable, and how has gang crime been able to grow so much?
In a new report, the Safer Sweden Foundation attempts to provide an answer to that.
– It is a very relevant question, but in reality it is rarely answered, says Secretary General Magnus Lindgren.
The Safe Sweden Foundation, an independent think tank that focuses on crime and insecurity, notes in its new report “Alone is not strong” a number of crucial factors from the last 50 years that have contributed to the situation in Sweden with vulnerable areas, widespread gang crime and insecurity.
The numerous restructurings of the police are considered one of the main reasons.
– For every reform the police have made since 1965 when the police were nationalized, they have moved further away from the citizens, says Magnus Lindgren.
Does not add
Similarly, the major police shakeup in 2015, where 21 separate police authorities were transformed into one cohesive authority, not least for the stated purpose of getting closer to citizens, has had the opposite effect, according to Magnus Lindgren.
– We were one of the few advisory bodies that said that “no, of course it is not possible to centralize the police in central locations and at the same time believe that it is necessary to approach the public.” It is an equation that does not go hand in hand.
And when the police get further away from citizens, it becomes more difficult to gain legitimacy and trust from citizens, Lindgren says.
Instead, the increased distance from citizens has created a power vacuum where other destructive forces can step forward, the report’s authors write.
Migratory crisis
This has since coincided with several other factors, for example a failed drug policy and a culture of silence that has emerged with the establishment of organized crime, according to the think tank.
Much accelerated then when several things coincided in 2015, like the great reform of the police and the immigration crisis, says Magnus Lindgren.
– Drugs increased, the police fell back and distanced themselves, we also managed to receive almost 150,000 asylum seekers in a short time, which meant great challenges for the municipality. In order not to oversimplify it to the point that it is all about immigration, it is a huge oversimplification.
The report’s authors present a series of proposals for both short-term and long-term measures to reverse the trend, including making the business community more involved in crime prevention work and reviewing secrecy legislation to facilitate government cooperation.
Redistribute police officers
But before any of this is done, attention must turn to the 22 areas that police define as particularly vulnerable, the report writes. The most concrete is the proposal to redistribute there 3,000 of the more than 20,000 Swedish policemen.
– And do so in collaboration with the Swedish Revenue Agency, the Swedish Public Employment Service and others, and create local joint action groups. Because what has happened here is that society has distanced itself in these areas, now we will return.
Published:
