– The gross violence in couple relationships is appallingly high. Therefore, we are trying to find a way to identify perpetrators who are at risk of committing partner murder in the worst case, says Anders Östlund, analyst and criminologist in police region Mitt.
He has drawn up the list by searching investigations into intimate partner violence in police region Mitt: Uppsala, Gävleborg and Västmanland County. These are men who have previously been violent with special risk factors for committing more serious violence, such as having threatened women with death or used strangulation. But what they have in common is that the men have expressed suicidal thoughts at some point.
– Through this suicide entrance, we find perpetrators who have very big psychosocial problems, we see that very clearly, says Anders Östlund.
Many murderers expressed suicidal thoughts
The idea is based on international research on risk factors. Among other things, a Danish study shows that of the men who murdered their partner in 2017, 52 percent had expressed suicidal thoughts before.
The list now includes around 20 men and the police see that it could be used for a range of measures.
– Partly that you can collect investigations and have them reported to the prosecutor. We can work with patrols, that you go to addresses where violence has previously been perpetrated. We can also visit these individuals and carry out emergency calls, but that of course requires a threat and risk assessment, says Jale Poljarevius, head of intelligence in police region Mitt.
Some interventions may increase the risk of violence
A challenge with the list is that certain interventions could increase the threat picture for women. Therefore, it cannot already now, as was intended, be used during a special effort against relationship violence: Christmas Peace.
– If you were to deal with some of the men with a tougher tactic, it would greatly increase the risk. So this is a delicate task that we look at so that we don’t make any mistakes, says Anders Östlund.
But despite the challenges, the police hope that an increased focus on the perpetrators will lead to fewer women dying.
– We must advance our positions further. Because unfortunately, this takes more human lives than gang violence does in our region, says Jale Poljarevius, head of intelligence.