According to Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer, there needs to be a redistribution of young criminals from the Sis homes to the Correctional Service. Security for personnel needs to be increased and escapes reduced.
– But it is also about us assuming that we are in a situation where many more young people will be in need of various types of coercive measures, he says in Sunday’s SVT Agenda.
The Minister of Justice points out that the current organization comes from a time with significantly fewer young serious criminals, and that the organization must be able to meet the challenges that exist in today’s society.
Correctional services better suited
The Sis homes believe that they are best suited to care for the young criminals.
What can the Correctional Service do better than the Sis homes?
– The correctional service has a completely different experience of working with serious criminals. That is their main mission, says Strömmer.
Sis home bigger suit
Strömmer believes that the Sis homes’ task of taking care of young people who have not committed serious crimes needs to be increased. He takes the ongoing wave of violence with shootings and explosions in Stockholm, with both young perpetrators and victims, as an example.
– We are talking about children who are under 15 in many cases. We need to change the whole picture here, he says.
– Then the question is where the worst young criminals should be locked up somewhere. It is a question in a larger whole.
Tidö Agreement: “Youth prisons”
The Tidö agreement states that the government wants to introduce “youth prisons”.
– It can either be special prisons or, for that matter, special departments in existing institutions.
According to Strömmer, “it remains to be seen” exactly which path will be chosen. The decisions are connected to the ongoing investigation, led by special investigator Agneta Bäcklund, into how young people deprived of their liberty should be cared for.