5,000 criminals in Sweden's vulnerable areas: police,
by Emma
Löfgren, 6/21/17, thelocal.com
Sweden's
national police chief has presented a new report about the country's problem
areas, increasing the number of districts classified as vulnerable or
especially vulnerable.
The report, which is likely to grab
headlines in Sweden and abroad, follows another high-profile report from 2015
which listed 53 so-called vulnerable areas, including 15 considered especially
vulnerable.
In the new report, 61 areas are now
on the list, of which 23 are considered especially vulnerable, 6 are risk areas
(areas that are at high risk of becoming especially vulnerable) and 32 are
vulnerable.
The police definition describe these
districts as socio-economically vulnerable areas with a generally high crime
rate. In an especially vulnerable area there are also often parallel societal
structures, religious extremism and police regularly have to adapt their
methods to the volatile situation. Residents also often do not report crimes,
either out of fear of retaliation or because they think it will not lead to
anything.
In an opinion piece published by
the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper ahead of the presentation
of the report on Wednesday, national police chiefs Dan Eliasson and Mats
Löfving write that around 5,000 criminals and 200 criminal networks are
believed to be based in these 61 vulnerable areas.
But the number of criminals risks
increasing, they write. “Sweden needs national and long-term efforts to turn
things around. We will now intensify our dialogue with relevant social actors
and ensure that we together create action plans for all these 61 areas. The
police cannot solve the situation in the vulnerable areas alone, but together
with the joint efforts of society we can make a big difference.”
There are several reasons behind why
the number of areas has gone up since the last report. In some areas, the
situation has deteriorated, but the main reason is that the police have refined
their data collection methods and have a better picture of the situation today,
write Eliasson and Löfving.
In some areas, they add, the police
have managed to improve the situation, by allocating extra officers to those
areas and installing surveillance cameras to crack down on open drug and weapon
trade.
"In one area it may have got
worse, in another better, even though it's not visible in the statistics,"
Eliasson said at a press conference on Wednesday.
He repeated that the police would
not be able to solve the situation on their own.
"Other societal actors, help
us, help us," he said.
One of the areas that may be on the
right path is Seved in Malmö, with a local police officer telling The Local
earlier this month that it could potentially be removed from the list in a
couple of years.
"The criminal network is still
there, but they are becoming fewer and fewer and we are very happy that we're
not seeing any new recruitment. There are no younger members connected to this
network, so they are getting older and older and fewer and fewer," the police's municipal liaison officer Jonatan Örstrand told The Local's Sweden
in Focus series, adding that it “all
depends on the course of the future”.
'A question of education': What Rinkeby residents
think about the riots, by Lee Roden, 2/22/17, thelocal.com
Rinkeby in Stockholm made global headlines in
February after riots broke out involving car fires just days after Donald Trump
thrust the spotlight on Sweden. But what do the people who actually live and
work in the suburb think about it? The Local spoke to them to find out.
The area's
challenges have been given renewed, global attention this week however, as the
riot on February 20th coincided with US president Trump's factually inaccurate comments about crime and immigration in Sweden.
When The Local
arrived in Rinkeby on Wednesday the atmosphere was calm, and there were few
signs of the trouble from two nights before, with the exception of the
occasional patched up window on shop fronts. But residents there still have
plenty to say about the problems in the area.
"There were
a few cars burning in the car park behind here – five or six of them. Then some
kids broke the glass in the subway followed by shops and a restaurant,"
Haider, who works in the Rinkeby Livs store and saw the riot taking place, told
The Local.
"The problem,
you know, is that the police did nothing. And not for the first time. If they
arrest someone who does something wrong, within a few days they're free. It
doesn’t make a difference – there’s no punishment," he claimed.
Haider's
complaint is in line with those made by other residents who have spoken to
Swedish media outlets in the last few days, criticizing police for waiting too long before clamping down on the
rioters. No arrests were made following
Monday's riot, and the shop worker thinks that shows more needs to be done to
prevent repeat incidents.
"It's not so
many people causing trouble. Maybe 30, 40. Arrest the whole bunch. There are
other solutions too. Split them up, move them all to different cities, for
example, and leave the normal people in peace," he suggested.
"The people
doing this stuff are known. It’s not the first time," his friend added.
"If someone has an argument with their partner and the police are called,
they're here straight away. But when this happens, they aren't."
Preliminary
figures from Sweden's National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) show that the
Rinkeby-Kista municipality which Rinkeby is a part of was the municipality in
Stockholm with the second highest rate of violent crimes reported in the city
in 2016.
Its 2,405
reported violent crimes per 100,000 residents was lower than only Norrmalm in
the city centre (3,679 per 100,000 residents). The lowest rate, by comparison,
was found in Bromma (709 violent crimes per 100,000).
For global
context on crime in Sweden, the overall rate of deadly violence in Sweden is
about 1 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 5 per 100,000 in the US, according
to the FBI.
Speaking to
Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Tuesday about the riot the night
before, police commissioner Jan Evensson conceded that "zero arrests in a
situation like this is not a pass", and promised that improvements will be
made if it emerges that officers did take too long to intervene.
Not everyone The
Local spoke to was as critical of the police however. A shop owner in the area
who wished to remain anonymous, said the officers "do exactly what is
required of them by the law, nothing more, nothing less".
"Everyday
normal people here have a good relationship with the police and like having
them around. You can speak with the police, have a laugh with them. The problem
is between the criminals and the police," he explained.
"Part of the
problem is that some people move here from countries with serious problems and
it’s difficult for them to enter Swedish society. They look for the shortest
route as a result, and that's crime," the man, who moved to Sweden 35
years ago, insisted.
"Sweden is
one of the best countries in the world and has done its best, but some
decisions it has taken have been weak. We have been hit by some bad decisions
on immigration, so Trump is right in that regard. That's why I think the Sweden
Democrats will win the next election here," he predicted.
https://www.thelocal.se/20170222/a-question-of-education-what-rinkeby-residents-think-about-the-riots
