The wave of violence in Norrköping started at the beginning of 2023 and ended as a brutal year with around 25 serious crimes linked to the network conflicts in the city.
And the infected gang fights have continued this year.
– Throughout 2023 and now into 2024, we have had a difficult situation in terms of serious crimes, both with shootings and explosions, says Frida Braf, police superintendent and local police area manager in Norrköping.
This year alone, around eight violent crimes in the form of explosions, shootings and arson have occurred in Norrköping linked to the same wave. A number that could be even higher, including a number of failed or stopped attempts that have not yet been included in the statistics, according to the police.
In a short time, now in March, the level of violence has increased. Among other things, a man, who according to information to TV4 Nyheterna is a leading figure in one of the networks in the city, was shot inside a mall in Hageby.
On the night of last Monday, a powerful explosion occurred at a high-rise building in the same district and the homes of several families were destroyed. According to information given to TV4 Nyheterna, the police are working on the theory that the bombing was aimed at a person in the vicinity of the shot leader.
As late as Friday evening, shots were fired at an apartment building in Hageby. The shooting is believed to have been aimed at relatives of a gang criminal, according to TV4 Nyhetern’s data.
Stepped up after large drug seizure
Police chief Frida Braf tells us that there are several different conflicts that are going on in parallel in Norrköping.
– The mobility of crime has increased in Sweden and this also applies to Norrköping. In these groupings or networks there are both internal conflicts but also criminality from outside, outside the borders of the Eastern region. There is a different mobility in crime today and it looks like that in several places, she says.
– They are the same conflicts that we have had throughout 2023 and when it comes to the latest serious crimes, with shootings and explosions, they enter the same conflict picture.
Sources with insight into the network environment in Norrköping, who TV4 Nyheterna spoke to, state that a working theory is that the gang war worsened after successful work against the criminals. Bland after a large drug seizure at the end of February.
Red Mode: “Weapons and Conflict”
According to information given to TV4 Nyheterna, the Swedish Customs Service discovered a mysterious container in the port of Gothenburg. It turned out to contain several hundred kilos of drugs. Customs officers then began a reconnaissance operation and followed the delivery – which went to Norrköping. They later raided and seized the drug. At the same time, several people were arrested and are now in custody.
TV4 News’ sources state that the huge seizure of the narcotics has led to criminals now competing to take over the gap that has arisen in Norrköping’s drug market after the customs operation.
Frida Braf does not want to comment on the individual drug case, but says that several different factors play a role in the causes of the spirals of violence.
– Revenge, we can certainly see that it is part of the conflicts, but it is more complex than that.
The police use a color scale to categorize the conflict situation. Red is the highest and most serious – and means that events of a serious nature may be imminent.
– Norrköping has had a red situational picture for weapons and conflict since April 2023 and that assessment still stands, says Frida Braf.
More young girls in the gangs
The Norrköping police have gathered strength and are using a number of different tactics to break the wave of violence.
– Reversing the type of apartments we have today is complex and it requires us to work long-term in cooperation with the municipality and other authorities, says Frida Braf.
– An example of long-term proactive work to break the trend is partly the new recruitment of young people. We see that increasingly younger individuals are used as perpetrators and are involved in the conflicts and the gang environment. Together with schools, social services and parishes, we work with both boys and girls. Because we see that girls are now part of the criminal networks in a way that we have not seen before.
In the past, the police have had targeted drug operations, but were usually only able to catch the people at the bottom of the drug hierarchy. They now collaborate with, among other things, the Kronofogden, Försäkringskassan and Skatteverket to get closer to the high-ranking.
– We are going after the criminals’ money. We try to focus on what is the driving force behind the crimes. In the past, it was languishers or addicts that we focused more on. But if we follow the money, we find the person who is higher up the chain and makes the most money from the crimes.
57 guns in one year in Norrköping
In addition, the police focus on trying to find gun caches and get as many firearms off the street as possible. According to the police, 57 weapons were seized in 2023.
– Which is a number that stands out nationally, and we have seized several weapons in 2024.
Frida Braf says that the local police in Norrköping work both to prevent crime but also with a security effort to catch concerns and also get tips from private individuals.
– I understand that there is concern among the public. We work with reinforced resources to counter more serious crimes and we collaborate with the intelligence unit to be able to target our resources correctly.
Extra surveillance cameras have also been installed in the city.
– Camera footage is an important piece of the puzzle for us in the preliminary investigations and a good complement to the police resource. There are fixed cameras but also mobile cameras in the form of drones. And we get support from the police helicopter as well.
The police now hope to quell the red conflict situation, which has been going on for a year.