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ÖLAND/BORGHOLM. Young people who are drawn into gang crime and a drug use that declines with age.
The police on Öland see two clouds of worry on the island.
– What happens in bigger cities also happens here, says Öland police Adam Keinvall.
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During the summer, the pressure increases on the whole island and not least on the police.
To deal with any mess, a temporary detention center in the form of a trailer is placed behind the police station in Borgholm.
– There are a lot of tourists coming here, about the whole city of Malmö, says Adam Keinvall, group leader for Öland’s newly started police area group.
“The whole city of Malmö” is an expression many islanders use when describing the intense summers on the island.
If one were to interpret the expression literally, it means that during the summer Öland goes from 26,000 inhabitants to just over 360,000.
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fullscreenAdam Keinvall works as a police officer on Öland. Photo: Lotte Fernvall
“Some have already been withdrawn”
The tourists are good at taking care of themselves, says Adam Keinvall, but with a lot of people there is automatically more mess.
– It’s usually everything from traffic accidents to fights in pubs. Then it calms down again after the holidays. Then we take a new take. Schools start and we return to everyday work.
By “everyday work”, Adam Keinvall mainly means one thing: To work preventively to keep young people away from gang crime in Kalmar.
The Småland city on the other side of the bridge has been shaken by several fatal shootings and serious violent crimes in recent years.
– Öland has no criminal networks as far as I know, but Kalmar has a problem that is reminiscent of that in larger cities. We see that some islanders have already been drawn into this.
Ölänning was shot dead in Kalmar
In March 2022, a 25-year-old man was shot dead while cycling along the Ängöleden in Kalmar. A 27-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. Both men came from Öland.
The murder was part of a conflict between two criminal gangs, in which a total of three people were murdered.
– We see how some look up to this culture, which glorifies network crime. We try to work closely with social services, schools and guardians to draw attention to this.
Is this a big problem on Öland?
– Everything is relative. We think it is serious if a person is drawn into it. We don’t have the problems that exist in bigger cities at all, but it happens here too. It spills over and into the smaller towns. It just comes a little later and in a much smaller format.
Although the networks have not established themselves on Öland, there are individuals on the island who sell drugs.
– They are found in Borgholm too, not just in Kalmar. It spreads like a net.
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full screen”The further you get from the larger towns, such as Färjestaden and Borgholm, the less the problems become.” Photo: Lotte Fernvall
Collaboration between school and police
The police have previously warned that the use of cannabis decreases with age on the island. In November last year reported the Barometer that the police caught more suspects aged 15–17 than they did before.
Even as young as 8–14-year-olds have been caught with drugs.
In Mörbylånga, something called SSPF has been started – a collaboration between school, social services, police and leisure for young people at risk of crime.
SSPF is aimed at families and young people between the ages of 10 and 18.
– At these ages, we have the opportunity to influence them. This is when we have the opportunity to get help from guardians and social services. It is much more difficult when they have turned 18, says Adam Keinvall.
According to the police, however, there is no active recruitment of young people from Öland to criminal networks in Kalmar, but young people with more difficult backgrounds may be more susceptible to being drawn into crime.
The problem is more about individual cases than systematic recruitment.
– We don’t want to paint any great danger among the parents. The problems are greater in some places than in others. The further you get from the larger towns, such as Färjestaden and Borgholm, the less the problems become.
Advice: Be careful
Parents are encouraged to be curious and involved in their children’s lives, including their socializing and activities. Tracking what clothes they buy and who they talk to can help identify signs of involvement in criminal activity.
– Ask what kind of clothes they wear. Did you buy it yourself? How did you get the money for this?
– If you have gone so far as to sell drugs, then it shows. You want to show that. Then you probably bought something expensive, something you can’t afford on the monthly allowance.