Funding for the authority has increased by 80 percent since 2017, and the number of employees in the police’s investigation teams for serious crimes has increased by just over 30 percent between 2018 and 2023. Nevertheless, the proportion of solved crimes remains at 19 percent during the entire period, shows an evaluation from the Crime Prevention Council (Suddenly).
According to Brå, the development can partly be explained by the fact that serious crimes have become significantly more numerous and more complicated to investigate.
“The growth in personnel has taken place too late in relation to the development of crime and it has become more difficult to find personnel with the right skills,” says Kristin Franke Björkman, investigator at Brå, according to a press release.
Particularly serious is the situation in Stockholm, which had clearly lower growth than other regions.
Gang breaking is prioritized
In contrast, the solving of serious crimes linked to organized crime, such as explosions and shootings, has increased from 27 to 30 percent during the period. Those investigations have been prioritized by the police, partly at the expense of other types of crime, according to Brå.
“To deal with the most serious crimes, the solution has often been to borrow staff from other parts of the agency that do not usually deal with serious crime, but these temporary transfers are not an efficient use of staff resources but rather create a ‘hole’ that is moved around in the organization,” says Lina Fjelkegård, investigator at Brå.
The evaluation shows that it has become more common for serious crimes to be investigated by local police areas, rather than by specialized teams. This can negatively affect the local police areas’ ability to investigate mass crimes, and Brå’s analyzes show that areas with very serious crimes generally have a lower resolution of mass crimes.
Crime in relationship
Brå has also investigated the results of investigations into crimes in a close relationship, rape and crimes against children. The number of employees who are supposed to investigate those crimes has increased by 70 percent since the reinforcement of resources began. However, clearance has only risen from 12 to 14 percent – despite the fact that the influx of cases has been the same.
“The strong increase in staff has not produced the results you can expect when it comes to crimes against particularly vulnerable crime victims. There is potential here to increase the investigation, but not through further staff growth,” says Kristin Franke Björkman.