“Perfect for adrenaline seekers and history buffs” • The crime victim’s center is in decline: “Reprehensible”
Perfect for adrenaline seekers and history buffs – this is how the experience being sold is described where you get to ride the route of the helicopter robbery, sitting in the actual helicopter that was used.
Sven-Erik Alhem, chairman of the Crime Victims’ Shelter, is strongly critical.
– It is generally reprehensible to offer that kind of glorifying experience, which actually hurts those who are still suffering from anxiety because of what they were part of during the real helicopter robbery.
An experience where you get to ride the route the robbers took during the helicopter robbery against G4S in Västberga in 2009 is offered by the company Happy-day.se. Another company previously also offered the service, but now, according to the website, it has been discontinued.
During the tour, you sit in the helicopter that was used during the real robbery. The experience is described on the website as exciting and unique in the world, and it says how you can follow along with “the spectacular robbery that captivated an entire nation”.
Sven Erik-Alhem, chairman of Brottsofferjouren, is sharply critical of offering this experience. He believes that they do not take into account those who worked in the depot during the robbery and had to experience a night of horror.
– It is a glorification that I think is deeply unfortunate, he says to TV4 Nyheterna.
“Exploits”
The price for one person is SEK 2,500. To get a private helicopter ride, you have to pay close to SEK 10,000.
– It is a way of exploiting other people’s suffering and glorifying the criminals’ advantage for a short period, says Alhem.
The helicopter heist has been given new life recently due to the attention-grabbing Netflix series. Even in the series there is a certain problem, says Alhem – although he does not think it is as bad as the experience.
– In the series, there will still be opportunities for comments that make it more versatile and not as straightforward as it seems to be if you offer tours by helicopter to follow the robbers’ path. There is an extra dimension in this, that they offer tourist tours to further exploit the grossly criminal event.
The appeal: Don’t buy it
Alhem hopes that there will be a resistance and that the public will condemn the service.
For those who are thinking of giving the helicopter experience as a Christmas present, Alhem has some advice:
– Think too carefully not to contribute to this glorification of the activities of criminals. I think you should refrain and instead give a thought to those who were involved in this completely by surprise and who felt deathly anguish when it happened.
“Like any podcast or documentary”
In an email to TV4 Nyheterna, the experience company Happy-day.se replies that it has no intention of glorifying crime.
“In this case, we combine a helicopter ride with the story of what actually happened during the helicopter robbery. The pilot and also the guide for the tour tells, like any podcast or other documentary, about what actually happened.”
The company adds that it also has routines for background checks on all participants in the helicopter tours, to ensure that no passenger has previously been punished.