Facts: Special event
A special incident means a sudden, unforeseen or planned event for which ordinary police operations are not adapted. It could be that an extra number of police officers or special skills are needed. The incident must therefore be handled outside of ordinary police operations with a special organization and management.
The wave of violence in the Stockholm area has led to the police launching a so-called special event. This means that the police in Stockholm are reinforced with resources from other parts of the country.
The response to the wave of violence meant an immediate reinforcement with 190 police officers from different parts of the country. Later, the Stockholm police announced that it was being reinforced with another hundred police officers.
On January 20, the police decided on a so-called special event due to the ongoing wave of violence linked to conflicts between several criminal networks in the Stockholm area.
A month later, the gathering of forces to stop the serious violent crimes continues with undiminished strength. Parallel to the many ongoing investigations, the focus is on offensive efforts and preventing new shootings and explosions, according to Niclas Andersson, operationally responsible for the special incident “Frank” at the police in Stockholm.
— We have continued a lot of violent acts, but also very offensive work right now. We arrest a lot of people and have seized a lot of weapons. I would assess that almost every day we somehow prevent various new serious violent crimes. It is an incredibly stressful situation, he says.
Automatic weapons seized
According to Niclas Andersson, around 70 pistols and revolvers have been seized since the end of December. The police have also seized over 20 automatic weapons and more than 30 kilograms of explosives, while a very large number of people have been detained.
— I think that Stockholm has never had as many detainees as today. We are at a figure of over 470 people, which is an incredible amount.
As recently as during the weekend, the police have made interventions that likely prevented serious violent crimes, according to Niclas Andersson. He therefore sees no signs that the spiral of violence is about to slow down.
— In the short term, we do not see that we have in any way broken the trend, but we assess that everything we do now will have long-term effects. We believe that this crime rate will slowly decrease and eventually come down to a lower level.
TT: How long will the special event run?
— It’s hard to say, but it’s currently on hold until after the summer. But it may very well be that it is extended.
Niclas Andersson does not think that the public needs to be concerned. “In general, the risk that you as a third person will be affected is very, very small, so I don’t think you need to be worried,” he says. “Worrying development”
Niclas Andersson takes a serious view of the development of recent weeks with several serious acts of violence where relatives of gang criminals are believed to have become targets.
— It is a worrying development. We think it is going in the wrong direction and we must stop it. We work with concerned relatives who contact us, evaluate and assess the situation and try to implement various types of operational measures to solve the problem.
In order to stop the spiral of violence, long-term police work and efforts from many other social actors are required, but relatives can also contribute to the solution by preventing children and young people from being drawn into criminal networks, he believes.
It has already been known that many of those involved in recent conflicts are very young.
— We have cases involving everything from eight-year-olds up to 13-year-olds who are socialized in this type of network. They try to lure them in and create advantages for the kids so that they look up to these criminal individuals. It is a development that the Police Authority cannot manage by itself, but the whole of society must mobilize around it.