More than half of the 45 preschools in the Stockholm district of Skärholmen are located in places that the police class as an “open drug scene”. This is shown by a survey from P4 Stockholm.
Despite this, the municipality opened a new preschool in the area last year.
– How will it end, will it be that they will shoot at each other and the children will have to duck between the swings, says a mother to the radio.
On Wednesday, Mikael, 39, was shot dead in front of his twelve-year-old son in central Skärholmen.
The place where the fatal shooting took place in the Stockholm district has been classified by the police as an “open drug scene” since 2019. Despite this, the city of Stockholm has chosen to build a preschool there as recently as last year, reports P4 Stockholm.
Mother: Should the children have to duck between the swings
The radio’s mapping shows that more than half of Skärholmen’s total of 45 preschools are located in areas that the police class as “open drug scenes”.
P4 Stockholm has spoken to a mother who has a child at the preschool that opened in the area in the spring of 2023. She is upset that the municipality placed it there – especially now considering the recent acts of violence in the district.
– How will it end? Will it be that they will shoot at each other and the children will have to duck among the swings, she tells the radio.
Recently, there have been three shootings in Skärholmen, two of which were fatal.
Built preschool to get good inputs to the site
Skärholmen’s district director, however, defends the decision to build yet another preschool in a place that is classified by the police as an “open drug scene”.
– You may need to look at it from a longer perspective. We need to make sure that places are activated. We can’t just put things down, because then we create greater anxiety and greater risk for things to happen. On the contrary, we need to gear up and make sure that the good and good efforts are in those places, says Lisa Kinnari to the radio.
But the mother doesn’t buy that argument:
– It feels like the politicians are sitting and thinking that now we are going to open a preschool in this area. It will probably be alright. Of course it’s a bit worried, but we need a surface and it will probably be fine. But how far does it have to go? she says to P4 Stockholm.