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CRIME

Sweden promises better protection for police after string of attacks

The Swedish government wants to better protect the country's police officers, with Justice Minister Morgan Johansson outlining plans to crack down further on gang crime.

Published: 31 October 2017 15:44 CET
Sweden promises better protection for police after string of attacks
Police stand outside an officer's home which was shot on Saturday. Photo: TT

His statements come in the wake of several attacks on police stations and officers' homes.

On Saturday, a man was arrested for attempted murder in Västerås after firing at least 12 shots at a police officer’s home, and on the same night a police station in Växjö, southern Sweden was attacked with fireworks and cobblestones.

Earlier this month, a police station in the southern Swedish city of Helsingborg was badly damaged by a powerful explosion, and in August, a man stabbed a police officer in an unprovoked attack in the centre of Stockholm. Several of these attacks are thought to be linked to local gangs.

Politicians have condemned the attack in Västerås, with the biggest opposition party, the Moderates, calling for harsher penalties and tougher gun laws.

“It is extremely important that we show how seriously we take this gang crime,” the Moderates' legal spokesman Tomas Tobé, who is also chairman of the Justice Committee, told the TT news agency. “The police also need to get more support than they have today. We need to get political changes that show that we are standing up for Swedish police.”

The Swedish Police Union has also raised concerns over the rise of violence, and noted that it could lead to people leaving the profession. A survey carried out by the union showed that 70 percent of police officers believe vulnerability has increased over the past two years.

An investigation known as Blue Light is currently underway to examine the possibility of giving police increased compensation for offences at work. “We're working with the directive of the investigation and it will come in a few weeks,” Justice Minister Morgan Johansson told Dagens Nyheter.

Johansson said the government had already increased punishments for around 30 crimes, including harsher threats for threats made with allusion to gang membership, and violence and drugs offences.

In addition, the penalty for serious firearms offences will be increased on January 1st next year, making it possible to detain suspects, as well as to carry out wire-tapping.

 

CRIME

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire ‘child soldiers’

The justice ministers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are to meet representatives of the tech giants Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok, to discuss how to stop their platforms being used by gang criminals in the region.

Published: 20 September 2024 10:31 CEST
Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire 'child soldiers'

Denmark’s justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said in a press release that he hoped to use the meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss how to stop social media and messaging apps being used by gang criminals, who Danish police revealed earlier this year were using them to recruit so-called “child soldiers” to carry out gang killings.  

“We have seen many examples of how the gangs are using social media and encrypted messaging services to plan serious crimes and recruit very young people to do their dirty work,” Hummelgaard said. “My Nordic colleagues and I agree that a common front is needed to get a grip on this problem.”

As well as recruitment, lists have been found spreading on social media detailing the payments on offer for various criminal services.   

Hummelgaard said he would “insist that the tech giants live up to their responsibilities so that their platforms do not act as hotbeds for serious crimes” at the meeting, which will take place at a summit of Nordic justice ministers in Uppsala, Sweden.

In August, Hummelgaard held a meeting in Copenhagen with Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, at which the two agreed to work harder to tackle cross-border organised crime, which has seen a series of Swedish youth arrested in Denmark after being recruited to carry out hits in the country. 

According to a press release from the Swedish justice ministry, the morning will be spent discussing how to combat the criminal economy and particularly organised crime in ports, with a press release from Finland’s justice ministry adding that the discussion would also touch on the “undue influence on judicial authorities” from organised crime groups. 

The day will end with a round table discussion with Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, on how anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews can be prevented and fought in the Nordic region. 

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