Despite the fact that detainees must be placed in custody, arrests are now widely used, which is a simpler form of custody that should only be used during the first 24 hours after a deprivation of liberty.
The increase since the summer has been very strong and this morning 217 detained people remained in detention centers run by the police and correctional services.
Looking for locations around the country
Last Friday, the police in the Stockholm region started a special event named “Emil” to solve the acute shortage of places.
– We started this event in order to have foresight, and make sure that we always have empty arrests to be able to lock up those we arrest, says Carina Skagerlind, the police’s spokesperson.
In practice, the work in the special event Emil consists of locating vacant places in prisons and detention centers in other parts of the country.
– Last Friday, we transported a number of detained people who were in our prisons to other regions in the immediate area, says Carina Skagerlind.
SVT has previously reported on an acute lack of space in detention centers and arrests, and according to information to SVT, suspected criminals in some situations earlier in the month were released because there was not even room in the arrests.
Points out the Correctional Service
The police point out that it is the Correctional Service that has failed in its mission to provide detention places.
– The correctional service is short of detention places and then the police do their part to help, says Carina Skagerlind.
From the penitentiary union SEKOS, they are now warning that the situation is unsustainable.
– It is very stressful both in the prison and the detention center. We borrow police arrests to bring in our detainees. We have double staffing in many of our institutions and also the remand. It is overcrowded, says Christer Hallqvist, chairman of SEKO Kriminalvården.