2023 has been characterized by a bloody wave of violence, with around 160 explosions and around fifty shootings in Sweden. Parents and other outsiders have fallen victim. Boys as young as 13–14 have been killed.
At the same time, police resources from all over the country have been moved to the worst affected cities, through the police’s special event, including to Stockholm, which had around twenty shooting deaths.
– Small things can cause violence to accelerate, but this was still a major deviation. So many events, in such a short time and several parallel conflicts that were going on at the same time, says deputy police chief Max Åkerwall.
More crimes are solved
During the year of violence, the police received harsh criticism for not having stopped the gang violence. But according to the police, the police investigation rate of crimes in the gang criminal environment in the Stockholm region has increased significantly. More and more are being arrested and more cases are expected to lead to prosecution.
– We have gone from low numbers, barely 20 percent clarification, to where we are now – around 80 percent, claims Åkerwall.
The statistics are not exact, as there are no systems that specifically measure the clearance rate. Instead, it is about the police’s own forecasts of charges and convictions.
New methods
According to Max Åkervall, the increase is due, among other things, to the changed way of working that the wave of violence meant for the police. For example, that they investigate more cases in parallel, in larger working groups with different skills.
Gang crime is nothing new for 2023. How come you didn’t make these changes much earlier?
– We didn’t understand better then. We have not been good enough at managing to develop methods at the same time as we have had such a heavy workload.
Another explanation is that there are more and more young perpetrators, he says:
– The younger performers make more classic mistakes, they leave more traces behind them. It has obviously contributed to us being happier.