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The proportion of shootings that resulted in someone dying increased sharply in 2022. The explanation is believed to be more motivated perpetrators, says Johan Olsson, head of the police’s National Operative Department (Noa).
1 of 2 Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
More people than ever before were shot dead in Sweden in 2022 and the new year has begun with a rarely seen spiral of violence in Stockholm.
As long as new boys step forward to pick up the weapons, the gang violence will continue, says Noachefen Johan Olsson in an interview with TT.
– Of course, it cannot be seen as anything other than a failure for society and for the police. It is of course a completely unacceptable development, says Johan Olsson, head of the police’s National Operative Department, about the sharp increase in fatal firearm violence in 2022.
The increase is believed to be partly due to the fact that the violence has spread more outside the three big cities, and partly to the fact that an increasingly high percentage of shootings result in someone dying, he says. This is clearly visible in the statistics: 28 percent of those who were shot in 2021 died, compared to 37 percent in 2022.
– We see that people shoot to kill to a greater extent. Our interpretation is that the conflicts have become so violent and that people put more effort into killing in order not to become a victim themselves. A shooting that does not result in a fatal outcome immediately creates a threat image in the other direction, says Johan Olsson.
Culture of violence
This can be seen, among other things, in the fact that more shots are usually fired and that a coarser caliber of bullets is used, he says.
There is no clear answer to what it is that drives the violence, and neither do the researchers, emphasizes Johan Olsson – but it is clear that a culture has developed within the underworld where you personally have to maintain the capital of violence in order to “be someone”.
– It is not enough to belong to a group, you have to do it yourself. One must respond with deadly force to the slightest perceived injustice.
– To a large extent, we see that the actors in the smaller cities adopt the same mentality, he continues.
Continuing despite judgments
Although the police achieved greater success in many parts last year than in many years – not least through information from encrypted chats that led to the convictions of a large number of gang criminals – the violence continues, with an end in 2022 and a start in 2023 that could hardly been worse.
As so many times before, Stockholm is the main arena for the settlements. Around ten acts of violence in the region from Christmas Day to the first week of the new year have resulted in three murders, several attempted murders and a number of broken staircases.
– In 2022, we broke a record in the number of people we arrested for serious and particularly serious weapons offences, that’s more than one per day. We also see, although we have to get better to handle more murders, that over time we prosecute more and more people for murder and attempted murder. So we achieve success operationally, but we do not see the violence decreasing, says Johan Olsson.
The problem is that there are always new young men and boys who step forward when others disappear.
– The bigger the environment, the faster it goes. If we set up a network in Kristianstad, or Kalmar, the effect could be long-term. But if it happens in Stockholm, it is very quick to fill up.
New recruitment the key
The long-term solution is to stop new recruitment to the networks. There, Olsson highlights the importance of the secrecy between authorities being eased, something that was promised by the new government.
– We believe that it is important that the basic idea changes. If various public bodies have knowledge of criminals, they should be able to share information, they should not have to look for exceptions. The basic idea must be that we should be able to work together.
In the more acute phase, a number of things are done against the violence, he emphasizes. For example, Stockholm now has a reinforcement of approximately 200 police officers from other parts of the police who contribute with a range of different skills.
– We work very hard to have the most resources where we have the biggest problems. Decisions are made all the time, he says.
In the short term, more people with the right skills are also needed to investigate serious crimes, and therefore they are now working a lot with short training initiatives, says Johan Olsson further.
In terms of measures that politics can contribute to the fight against gun violence, he highlights so-called preventive tools as the most important – that is, for example, that the police can intercept people without there being any suspicion of a crime. A government inquiry suggested such tools last fall, and the government has announced that a bill is in the works
– With that, we can prevent more crimes, and even if we can’t prevent it, we have a completely different starting point. We don’t start from scratch when someone is on the ground.
Facts
The weekend period’s serious crimes in Stockholm
25/12 – A man in his 30s is shot dead in a car park in Rinkeby in northwest Stockholm.
27/12 – An explosion occurs at an apartment building in Enskededalen in southern Stockholm.
28/12 – Shots are fired at an apartment building in Gubbängen in southern Stockholm. Later that day, an apartment door in the same building was shot at.
28/12 – A gate in Farsta in southern Stockholm is blown up.
31/12 – An explosive charge detonates early on New Year’s Eve in a gate in Rågsved in southern Stockholm.
31/12 – Three young men are shot outside McDonalds in the center of Vällingby, in northwest Stockholm. One of them dies.
2/1 – Early in the morning a gate is blown up in Grimsta in western Stockholm. Just over an hour later, a gate explodes in Bagarmossen in southern Stockholm.
4/1 – Two men are shot at the commuter train station in Jordbro in Haninge municipality. One is pushed on the platform and the other near the station. One of them dies.
5/1 – An explosion occurs in a stairwell to an apartment building in Farsta.
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National Operations Department
The National Operative Department (Noa) at the police is tasked with directing and directing police operations both nationally and internationally, as well as supporting the seven police regions in various types of operations.
Noa was established in connection with the reorganization of the police in January 2015 and largely replaced what was previously called Rikskriminalen.
Johan Olsson took over as head of Noa after Mats Löfving in 2020.
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