STOCKHOLM by Carin Götblad the face will certainly be remembered by many Finns from 20 years ago. Götblad was Stockholm’s police chief and foreign minister often in the headlines 20 years ago Anna Lindhin at the time of the murder.
Götblad’s career in the Swedish police has progressed and now, at the age of 67, he is the police chief of the national special group NOA. NOA was founded in an organizational reform where the Swedish Central Criminal Police was abolished.
Gang crime in Sweden is getting worse month by month. After Christmas, there has been a real wave of shootings and explosions in the Stockholm area. According to the police’s assessment, it is now a showdown between at least two criminal gangs, where they are fighting for control of Sundsvall’s drug trade.
What has been new in the post-Christmas attacks is that the leaders of the gangs are believed to be abroad, and now the attacks have targeted the homes of their loved ones or acquaintances. What is also new is that the perpetrators and victims are now younger and younger, for example 15 years old.
The police have raised their level of preparedness in Stockholm and a total of nearly 300 police officers have been transferred from other parts of Sweden to work in Stockholm on two different occasions.
At the end of last week, it was reported that the Södertälje police have succeeded in preventing five murder plans since last fall.
Still, the statistics for last year and January are grim. Last year, there were 391 shooting incidents, with 62 deaths and 107 injuries.
In January, acts of violence were concentrated in the Stockholm region. There were 35 clashes, three were killed and four were wounded.
There were 90 explosions last year and 16 in January. Among other things, hand grenades have been used in the explosions.
1. Carin Götblad, how could you see the development already 10 years ago?
– We began to see that young boys in the most socioeconomically burdened areas did not do well in school and did not get jobs.
– I am interested in research related to crime and had spent quite a lot in the United States. I realized that this has to be addressed or else the risk is high like in the United States, meaning that boys will be drawn into gangs and their lifestyle.
2. What did you propose to do?
– I compiled a list of activities that I can say are still relevant. Actions must be aimed precisely at this risk group, i.e. boys must be offered internships, youth facilities where they renounce macho attitudes, traditional gender roles and violence.
– I also suggested that the confidentiality practices of social services, schools and the police be changed so that information could be exchanged. But I also proposed the Poika project, where the state would channel considerable money to this particular group, so that they could be lassoed.
3. Is it just boys?
– Yes, this only applies to boys. It’s a pretty small group of all boys, but because the violence is so brutal, the damage is great. Girls from the same families may do very well and that’s why parents should raise their sons like their daughters.
4. How serious is the situation in Sweden?
– The situation is very serious. In the short term, we need to end the deadly shootings. Now there have been shooting incidents almost every day.
– But the truth is that crime cannot be stopped just by toughening the punishments. They are necessary now, but in the longer term we must also work preventively.
5. Are youth prisons the solution?
In Sweden, juvenile prisons were abolished in 1979. Juvenile criminals are now sentenced to youth homes, where the most severely sentenced are in closed wards.
– These dangerous murderers must be put behind bars, that’s clear, because they are a danger to everyone. Two different options are now being explored, either the establishment of youth prisons or longer periods in closed care homes for young people.
Götblad does not support placing minors in ordinary prisons, as is done in Finland, for example.
6. Where do gangs get their weapons?
– The borders are open and a lot of weapons come from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Customs must get wider rights, because they can’t just open packages that contain explosives, such as, for example, hand grenades. This is the flip side of open borders and the police have indeed warned about this.
– Weapons are cheap these days and there are a lot of them available, for example, in the Balkans, but new weapons are also being made. Weapon parts come in the mail and weapons can also be manufactured with current 3D devices.
7. How much does fake news make it harder to help families?
Currently, in Sweden, families can refuse, even if social services offer support and help. Fake news, which spreads especially among Muslims, is considered to be the cause. According to fake news, Swedish social authorities are kidnapping children.
According to Götblad, fake news is a big problem.
– Families are afraid of the social authorities, who have to change their work and intervene much earlier by offering parents support and help. Then the parents are more likely to go along, because the problems haven’t become so big yet.
– Then it is not about the child being taken into custody and then the parents are not so afraid, because everyone is afraid that the authorities will take the children away.
8. What is the role of parents?
Götblad repeats many times that the key role is the parents.
– It’s no secret that we have many families who live on the fringes of society. Many of the children come from families where the parents are unemployed, there are many children, the parents are not integrated into society, and are therefore unable to help their children.
– And if children are not taken care of, they easily fall into criminal circles that tempt them to do favors for payment, and pretty soon they are under the influence of gangs.
According to Götblad, the research results show that at-risk families are indeed known.
– That’s why we should intervene early, already at kindergarten age. It is often the case that the parents are not parents enough, and do not monitor their children’s activities enough.
– But I would say that the whole society has to change its behavior and lower its tolerance threshold. All Swedish adults must be more strict in telling children what is okay and what is not okay, what kind of behavior is not tolerated from children and young people.
9. Can organized crime be eradicated?
– I don’t know of any country where organized crime has been brought to an end completely once it has taken root. But it is important to have strict tools for both punishment and prevention.
– A good example of this is Denmark, which has not completely eliminated crime, but has caused it to decrease significantly. So we follow Denmark’s example
10. What kind of advice do you give to Finland?
– My advice is: intervene early and strongly. This problem will not go away by itself, as we in Sweden have imagined. It does not stand apart from the rest of society.
– Take action immediately and break up the problem groups. Intervene early on the families that the gang members come from and make it clear right away that such parallel societies or gangs are not accepted. This is important!
What kind of thoughts do the Swedish police’s advice evoke in you? You can discuss the topic until 23:00 tomorrow.