Sweden’s prisons are overcrowded.
The lack of places is tough for both staff and inmates – and security is threatened.
– We are seeing an increase in the number of security-related incidents, says Director General of the Correctional Service Martin Holmgren.
The Correctional Service has long sounded the alarm about a lack of places in Swedish institutions and detention centers. SEK 750 million has been requested from the government, a request that consists of three parts: site capacity, supply of skills and compensation for, among other things, higher costs.
In April, overcrowding was as much as 118 percent, which is far above the Correctional Service’s own goal of 95 percent.
– Concretely, this means that today we solve the situation in detention centers and institutions by double occupancy, where inmates are allowed to share rooms. There are bunk beds in detention centers and institutions, as a supplement to the usual situation, says Martin Holmgren.
This affects safety
The lack of places has a direct impact on security, says the Director General of the Correctional Service.
– We see an increase in the number of security incidents. There is a risk of increased frustration and irritation when you are very densely populated, says Holmgren.
In order to increase security, the Correctional Service has tried to reinforce with staff and hold training sessions for security-enhancing measures.
– Despite the very tough situation and the fact that it is so strained in terms of security, we manage to maintain a safe and good security operation, but then there are challenges in various ways today, says Holmgren.
Not ready for increased penalties
The Tidö agreement contains proposals for increased penalties, something that would further burden the tight situation in Sweden’s prisons. A report has therefore been submitted on behalf of the government, on what the reforms would mean for the Correctional Service – and what is required to cope with it.
– This would mean that we double the already planned capacity in ten years. And we don’t think we can do this just by recruiting and building new, but also that politics must consider other types of measures.
In the spring amendment budget, the government has allocated 300 million to the Correctional Service, which was announced by Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) and Richard Jomshof (SD), chairman of the Riksdag’s justice committee.
– The staffing situation in the correctional service is strained. It is even extremely strained, said Richard Jomshof at the time.