In August she was the Attorney General and in September she became president of the Svea Court of Appeal. For Petra Lundh, it meant a return to the place where she underwent her referee training. The circle closed.
It was a chance she couldn’t miss.
But when she stepped into the Wrangel Palace on September 4 and gave her opening speech under the hand-painted portraits of the 49 presidents of the Court of Appeal who had preceded her, she was already on her way out.
It certainly wasn’t. But it wasn’t long after the government in May gave her the task of leading the country’s oldest supreme court before the minister of justice called again.
Before she even took office, Gunnar Strömmer (M) suggested that she should fill a pair of much bigger shoes: that of national police chief.
Experienced fox
– It was not something I saw coming. I’m not a police officer, I’m a lawyer, says Petra Lundh.
With 35 years in the judiciary, she is an experienced and recognized one. She hesitated for months before saying yes.
– Being head of the police with 38,000 employees is, if not the most difficult, then among the most difficult assignments in Swedish state administration. But in the end I felt that, if the government thinks I’m the right person, I have to try.
Former colleagues describe a sharp, listening and inclusive manager with “tremendous work capacity”.
In addition to leading the country’s largest authority, she is responsible for an overhaul of the criminal code. But according to the mother of four, she doesn’t work harder than anyone else.
– I have always been very clear about having a lot of time for the family. I basically never work on weekends and usually go home on time.
– I think it is important to send a signal to the employees that I am working at this time, and then you do it efficiently, but that when you go home, you can leave work and think about other things. I think it is absolutely necessary to get power.
The drive is, in short, to make things better.
– Right now it drives me to try to contribute to Sweden becoming a safer and more secure country. It took a long time to get here, it will take a long time to turn the tide ,but it works.
Necessary evil
TT meets the national police chief after two weeks on the job. Twice she has had to follow the hunt when shootings occurred during business visits. Organized crime is a historic challenge, she says.
– A state governed by the rule of law must be able to protect its citizens. We cannot fully do that today.
Penalties and changes in the law in a repressive direction have been added. More, such as anonymous witnesses and visitation zones, are in the works. A necessary evil, Lundh believes.
– Today, some individuals are so dangerous that we have to get them off the street. This has not really been thought of before, but social protection and redress for crime victims must be strengthened.
Opponents object that visitation zones in vulnerable areas damage trust in the police. How do you view that risk?
– There is always a risk and it is important to balance. But it is actually also a tool to protect honest people, which the vast majority are, who live in vulnerable areas. However, I think we need to be very clear in informing about the purpose.
Confidence in the police reduces. At the same time, the concern about being exposed to crime is increasing. Reversing the trend is at least as much about “everyday crime” as it is about bombings and gang murders, Lundh believes.
– Fraud, theft, assault and, not least, crimes in a close relationship. We have to get better at investigating and prosecuting all that.
The culprit Strömmer
In 2018, Petra Lundh became Sweden’s first female Attorney General, now she is Sweden’s first female police chief. Does it matter?
– The signaling effect should not be underestimated. I think it is important that other women see that it is possible to get ahead and that you should dare to take on big tasks.
Svea Court of Appeal was informed that the new manager would move on the same day it became public knowledge. After the press conference and interviews, Gunnar Strömmer accompanied back to Riddarholmen and explained to sullen lawyers that he was the culprit in the drama.
It was three months as president of the Court of Appeal. It may be short, but the portrait – the 50th in the series – has been ordered and will go up on the wall among the others. Incidentally, there hangs a predecessor who sat even shorter.
Gabriel Stierncrona took office on September 2, 1723, almost to the day 300 years before Petra Lundh, but died only six days later.