Police officers’ concerns: “No longer know which colleagues I can trust”

Police students associate with gang criminals – other police students are suspected of being gang criminals.

Something that creates great concern within the authority.

– It is scary that I can sit in the car and think about whether I can tell my colleague what my children’s names are, says a police officer.

After DN’s review about police officers who have relationships with gang criminals, Aftonbladet has spoken to several police officers. Several of them confirm that the problem exists.

Many of them also raise another problem – the gang criminals who become police officers.

A police officer, who has worked in the foreign service for several years, says the situation has escalated over the past five years.

– Something I have worked with a lot recently is police students who have connections to gang criminals, says the police.

Police student was checked – with gang criminals

An example is a young man who started at the police academy. When he then started the aspirant, several colleagues discovered that the man was friends with about ten serious criminals on social media. The people were of different ages, but what was common was their connection to crime.

– The person had 30-40 criminals on their friend accounts. But there was no logical explanation for that, says the police that Aftonbladet spoke to.

Another police student used to associate with criminals. Then he started his first week of practice. Some time later, a group of suspicious men – several of them masked – stopped and were checked.

Among them was the police student.

– It took many months before that person was separated. It was something we really had to fight for. Many colleagues had time to raise the alarm before we were heard, say the police.

A few years later, a new police student would start. When the colleagues checked him out, they saw that he also had several criminal friends.

– One of his friends was the first guy we had just managed to get separated.

“The gang is trying to get people inside”

That police students hang out with criminals is no secret to the Police Authority, the police say further.

– The authority knows about this. Even so, they still take risks and bring in several students who hang out with criminals. Those of us who are committed, and want to bring in new colleagues who have clean flour in the bag, have started checking them ourselves now. It has gone to that level now. We can’t make matches in our systems, but we check them via social media and on the internet.

One of the many problems is that the alarms from colleagues do not lead to anything. Another is that those who raise the alarm are silenced, continues the police.

– It feels like the gangs are trying to get people inside, and that the authority is not doing enough to get them out. There are many colleagues who struggle with this, but those who raise the alarm about it are silenced, say the police.

The person also says that there is a concern about reprisals if you raise the alarm.

– There is a pronounced fear among many colleagues that it is not possible to be a whistleblower, but that there are consequences in that you do not get the positions you are looking for, you do not get a salary increase and the like. There are many who express it.

“Flaws in the security talks”

Several of the police that Aftonbladet speaks to say that one of the fundamental problems is deficiencies in the authority’s security checks on its personnel.

An initial security check is held in connection with applying to the Police Academy. The second is held before being employed, during the aspirant period.

– That’s all. The only times they do new checks are if you change service and climb. There must be changes within the authority when it comes to security interviews. It needs to happen more often. If you work within the authority, you must be able to lay all your cards on the table, say the police.

The police officers also testify that the problem, that it is seen that both police students and employed police officers have connections with criminals, is widespread throughout the country. And many of them see how it grows.

– We have a terror level that is at a four and a wave of violence that will only continue. We can’t take any risks then, and we can’t skimp on safety, say the police.

“We put our lives in the hands of our colleagues”

In some cases, it has gone so far that they no longer know which colleagues they can trust.

– I am so upset and pissed off that nothing is being done about this. You put colleagues and society at risk when you don’t do thorough checks on who becomes police officers, says the person, and continues:

– It is terrible. We put our lives in the hands of our colleagues, and so you don’t know who you can trust. It’s scary that I can sit in the car and think about whether I can even tell my colleague what my children’s names are. This needs to be looked into, for everyone’s sake.

One concern is that this will ultimately lead to many police officers quitting, the person continues.

– My biggest fear is that the authority will lose the police officers who work with the right purpose and who work every day to create security and prosecute criminals. But we must stay. Otherwise we end up in a corrupt society in Sweden.