Published: Less than 50 min ago
The relationship between the police chiefs Linda Staaf and Mats Löfving lasted for six years, according to a memorandum obtained by Expressen. National Police Chief Anders Thornberg was informed a year ago about the case – and dropped it.
In the memorandum from December 2021, security chief Ari Stenman describes, after conversations with the then head of intelligence at Noa, Linda Staaf, that the relationship lasted for six years between 2015 and 2021 and developed to become destructive, according to Expressen.
Suspicion of misconduct
Staaf was hired as head of intelligence at Noa in 2015 following the decision of Mats Löfving, who was then head of Noa, and a preliminary investigation into gross misconduct has been ongoing in this regard. In the same year, the relationship began according to the memorandum.
Löfving’s decision to give a service weapon to Staaf – despite the fact that the training unit and a deputy head of office at Noa said no, citing that Staaf did not receive all the necessary training – must also be investigated.
However, Thornberg did not consider in 2021 that the case should be investigated as a personnel matter, even though the document mentioned that the relationship had been going on for a long time and during a time when it could mean a break. Stenman then took the information to the department for special investigations (SU), where the prosecutor also chose not to initiate a preliminary investigation.
In a previous interview with TT, Thornberg said that he feels safe with how he handled the case and that he cannot answer questions “relating to personal relationships”.
– If it is the case that there would have been a relationship, then there is a problem. A manager and an employee should not have a relationship. It can affect people, decision-making and other things, said Thornberg on Thursday.
“Has moved on”
Noa’s head of intelligence, Linda Staaf, says in a written comment to Expressen that “the story has taken off completely” and does not correspond to reality.
“I still haven’t seen the unmasked version of the report, but already from the masked version I have clearly stated that there are things in the information that Stenman submitted to the department of SU that do not match what I told him,” she writes .
Facts
Background to the tangle
The background is a total of three police reports.
Mats Löfving, regional police chief in Stockholm and deputy national police chief, was reported to the police last year for gross breach of peace, unlawful persecution and molestation, which Expressen revealed. Löfving has also been reported for assault.
The designated victim was Linda Staaf, head of intelligence for the police’s national operations department (Noa). Staaf has not filed a report herself and does not believe that she has been the victim of a crime either.
In none of the cases have prosecutors chosen to go ahead and initiate a preliminary investigation.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Bengt Åsbäck – who earlier this year wrote off a police report regarding gross misconduct in connection with Staaf’s employment – has said that he will review the events again after new information is received.
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