The police’s surveillance cameras have increased from around 700 to just over 2,500 in the last three years. In southern Sweden, the police have solved everything from bicycle thefts to murders with the help of the cameras.
– The cameras hit the entire crime catalog, says Jimmy Lindin who is head of the camera section in the police region south. But the critics believe that more measures than just cameras are needed to fight crime.
In central Skurup in Skåne, another surveillance camera is being set up by the police’s camera section. The cameras are set up in places where the police can statistically determine that many crimes are committed, but also in places where there is a risk of serious crime.
This particular camera will only be up for a limited time, as it is judged that there is currently a need for extra surveillance.
Solves different types of crimes
The police in the South region see great value in what the cameras provide.
– We have solved murders and attempted murders, but also mass crimes such as bicycle thefts, so the cameras hit the entire crime catalog, says Jimmy Lindin, who is head of the camera section in the police region south.
The number of surveillance cameras has increased significantly in recent years. From 712 in 2021 to just over 2,500 this year. In Malmö, according to the police, this has resulted, among other things, in the fact that drug dealing has largely disappeared from Folkets Park.
“Wrong to think that one action solves everything”
But Andreas Schönström, social democrat and chairman of the technical committee, believes that more than more cameras are needed to fight and prevent crime.
– I think that we in Malmö have a good balance, we have excellent cooperation with the police. When we set up cameras, we follow up with social efforts. You have to do both. There I can be critical of the development I see in Sweden, where people believe that one tool can solve everything.