• Sweden edition
National

Swedish police 'worst' in Scandinavia

Published: 25 May 12 11:43 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/41038/20120525/

Swedish police are the worst in the Nordic region when it comes to clearing up home break-ins, a crime which has increased dramatically in Sweden in recent years.

Police in Sweden only manage to solve 4 percent of home burglaries, the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reports.

Sweden's clearance rate pales in comparison to that of Finland, where police succeed in clearing up between 22 and 26 percent of break-ins.

Meanwhile, Danish police solve 7 percent, while police in Norway clear up 15 percent of burglaries, leaving Swedish police ranked last among its Nordic and Scandinavian neighbours.

In the last ten years, the number of reported home break-ins in Sweden has risen by 34 percent nationwide.

And of the 22,000 home burglaries reported in 2011, Swedish police managed to solve 920.

"Obviously, we should solve more crimes and aren't happy with everything," Kalle Wallin with the National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) told DN.

In explaining Sweden's relatively poor performance compared to its neighbours, Wallin said that it can be hard to compare statistics from one country to another.

"Statistics isn't an exact science. It's hard to compare them. There are different ways for dealing with statistics," he said.

Police researcher Stefan Holgersson, a former police officer, attributes the low clearance rate to changes in how the Swedish police force is organized which took place in the mid-1990s.

"That destroyed a working organization and the clearance rate dropped," he told DN.

"It's been that way for every subsequent organizational change. They haven't focused on how the operation can be as strong as possible, but more on presenting a picture of a functioning operation."

However Wallin hinted at that Sweden's recently expanding burglary bubble may be about to burst.

"We've seen a break in the trend this year with 400 fewer break-ins this year compared to the same period last year," he said, attributing the drop to new efforts focusing on career criminals and repeat offenders.

"We're starting to see results from that," he told DN.

The Local/dl
Follow The Local on Twitter

What do you think? Leave your comment below.

Your comments about this article:

The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.

12:06 May 25, 2012 by Abe L
I don't think this is exactly news or required a posting in the first place. This is well known with every Swedish citizen. The police is never there when you need them and doesn't solve any crime, but if you drive a little to fast they always appear out of nowhere to pull you over and hand you an absurdly high ticket.

I'd much rather see a posting about how the police is going to fix their poor performance and put more burglars behind bars.
12:49 May 25, 2012 by Scott McCoy
Not a surprise,Swedish police are a joke.
12:56 May 25, 2012 by occassional
Nothing new here. They are lackadaisical, non proactive (or active for that matter) and can and never match the mindset let alone the brutality of the miscreants they are after. Not to mention their shooting and aiming skills.

On the plus side they are for the most part good looking and wear cool uniforms.
13:12 May 25, 2012 by HelmiVainikka
Well my wife always told me that the only thing police does there is give people speeding tickets on the highways. When something actually happens, they are not there, do not care or do not even come.

Well, I guess she was not overdoing it.
13:23 May 25, 2012 by Scepticion
Quite agree with HelmiVainikka. Several burglaries and thefts both at work and home. The police never showed up once to collect evidence. How can they arrest anybody like that? The 4% solved crimes are probably cases where the burglar caught themselves .... http://www.thelocal.se/40986/20120523/

Anyway, in some way one might understand the police. Even if they catch a thief, most cases might be dropped by an idiot court, and even if the thieves get sentenced, they are soon out again after a nice vacation at a state institution.
13:44 May 25, 2012 by just a question
The law protects the criminals. So why even bother?
13:53 May 25, 2012 by Migga
Even in the few cases where they catch the theifs they only get a slap on the wrist. Crime pays in Sweden since there is such a small risk for getting caught and punished. You get let out again after a few months. The punishments should be raised on crimes.
14:50 May 25, 2012 by DAVID T
"In the last ten years, the number of reported home break-ins in Sweden has risen by 34 percent nationwide"

Matches the immigration policy
15:47 May 25, 2012 by eppie
@abe l

You make these comments more often. Where are you living? Next to a police station? I never notice anything from swedish police officers fining people for traffic violations. And I have facts on my side. Go to any other civilized country and you will find police much more active in traffic.

And about the story...let's not forget that solving a burglary is not very easy. If the bruglar did not leave any trace you basically have nothing to investigate.......apart from looking on blocket to see if the stolen goods are being sold.
17:38 May 25, 2012 by bells on the knight
@epple

I guess with your reasoning the thieves must be outstandingly stupid in finland and norway since the police manage to solve many more burglaries there.

OR they must be sooo much more intelligent in Sweden.... OR maybe the police in Sweden is somewhat of the lesser gifted kind.
17:58 May 25, 2012 by HelmiVainikka
@eppie #9

I can not agree with you on that.

My wife (an "ethnic Swede" as some would call) personally had more than enough unpleasant experiences with how the police is working in Sweden. She used to live in the middle of the country (medelpad), and even though she lived in a relatively small community that is miles from being called a "ghetto", crimes there were more common then rainy weather in England.

There were constantly people having burglars visiting them in their apartments or in their stores, drunken driving, vandalism and local politicians (greens and one from SD) getting beaten up for not agreeing with the killing of wolves. And of course, people then have a great need of reliable police officers for help, but whoever, and for whatever reason they contacted them, the officers simply didn't give a damn.

My wife's family owns a clothing store, which unfortunately got robbed more then once, and in all cases the police "didn't have time to come" or simply came hours after the reported robbery were sent in. In one case a person who lived in an apartment above the store witnessed as the store got robbed, and contacted the police, which for some reason didn't bother to come to the scene 10 minutes away from them, until 3 hours after the robbery, in which of course the robbers already where miles away, and now unreachable. The eyewitness, who interrupted the robbers so they didn't luckily manage to take anything with them, never got to make a statement on what they looked like, or what car they had, but instead it was marked as "well, they didn't manage to take anything, they are gone, case closed".

Or how a numerous amount of cases were reported to the police from people who had someone breaking in to their houses, stealing anything of value, and disappearing in a rented car, car was reported, and even traced as it left the northern part of Sweden and headed down south, but the people where not arrested, instead they simply disappeared to whatever country they came from.

Or a very known drunk driver, who during several occasions drove on sidewalks, one time almost running over a women with a newborn baby in a baby-wagon, who just barely managed to jump aside, having the wagon flying to the ground and baby flying out of it ( luckily unharmed ), and the man in question who drove the car, got a short time in custody, his drivers license pulled and his car forbidden on the streets. Not long after, he was free, and he was roaming the streets again, without license, and with a new car. It is worth mentioning that this man has done this many times in the past. Why is it that a known drunken driver, who almost killed people on several occasions, get away with such a mild punishment? Ask the cops in Ljungaverk.
18:42 May 25, 2012 by Swedishmyth
They might catch more burglars if fewer of them were stationed by the highway with their cute little detectors.
21:59 May 25, 2012 by dizzymoe33
This is what happens when so many illegals enter your Country they have no respect for the Country!!

But it sounds like the Swedish police need some better training?!
00:27 May 26, 2012 by HandsomeAmerican
i'm from the bronx, new york. perhaps i should come there and be a break-in man. i would be rich in a month
16:55 May 26, 2012 by AW_S
and what norwiegan police?
17:19 May 27, 2012 by Borilla
Although probably not a bad idea considering the place and origin of the cruise, it did seem a bit much to have six policemen administering breath tests to every driver leaving the Tallinn ferry on a Monday morning. I repeat my previous opinion, these are village police without a clue about how big city police work really functions. The expert's statement really covers it all, the police force in Sweden is more interested in presenting a picture of a functioning police force than actually being one.

However, @ Abe L, you always harp on the traffic policing. Maybe, if you would obey the law and drive at or below the speed limit, you troubles would disappear.
02:02 May 30, 2012 by mcarroll1
Its funny how the police spokesman denies the researchers statistics as unreliable yet quotes his own stats as fact. Lies, damned lies and statistics.
ADD YOUR COMMENT   (YOU MUST LOG IN OR REGISTER TO MAKE A COMMENT)
Today's headlines
Princess Madeleine 'not nervous' about wedding

Princess Madeleine 'not nervous' about wedding

Sweden's Princess Madeleine is "less nervous than she thought" about her impending walk down the aisle at Stockholm's Storkyrkan church to wed US financier Chris O'Neill. READ () »

Think You Know Sweden?
Quiz: 'A Swedish city with a pulse'

Quiz: 'A Swedish city with a pulse'

For this week's secret location picture gallery quiz, we head to a city that's among the top 20 in terms of population size. Can you guess which one it is in nine clues? READ () »

'Tired' Swedes have less sex than ever: study

'Tired' Swedes have less sex than ever: study

Swedes are having less sex than ever before, a new survey has revealed, and their libidos appear to have waned too, prompting researchers to warn that "desire disorders" may be keeping Swedes from getting intimate. READ () »

Man held for murder after new body parts find

Man held for murder after new body parts find

A man has been arrested on the suspicion of murdering a 20-year-old woman who vanished three weeks ago in northern Sweden, and whose suspected body parts were uncovered on Monday. READ () »

Unrest in Stockholm
Schools burn on fifth night of Stockholm riots

Schools burn on fifth night of Stockholm riots

At least two schools, a police station, and 15 cars were set ablaze in Stockholm on Thursday night as riots in the suburbs of the Swedish capital continued for the fifth straight night. READ () »

Unrest in Stockholm
Minister: Stockholm riots 'not youth versus society'

Minister: Stockholm riots 'not youth versus society'

With one 18-year-old remanded in custody after four nights of rioting in Stockholm, Sweden's Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag said the rioters are a small minority, and did not represent a clash between young people in the suburbs and society. READ () »

Swede of the Week
Firefighter to Stockholm rioters: I'll still help you

Firefighter to Stockholm rioters: I'll still help you

A viral Facebook post about the terror of being targeted by stone-throwing youths during to the ongoing Stockholm riots has made firefighter Mattias Lassén into something of a Swedish folk hero, and The Local's pick for Swede of the Week. READ () »

Northern Sweden Dispatches
Driving in Sweden: Elk, reindeer, and road rage

Driving in Sweden: Elk, reindeer, and road rage

Fresh from another near miss with a hulking behemoth of an elk, ex-Londoner Paul Connolly offers up a theory on how the prospect of imminent collisions with wayward wildlife affects the driving habits of Swedes up north. READ () »

More National

 

RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER AND ALERTS
 

 

Highlights
DoToday
LIFESTYLE »
What's On:The Local's guide to upcoming attractions and events in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö
www.finest.se
GALLERY »
People-watching May 20-23
Erik Bloom
LIFESTYLE »
Stockholm's ten best-kept secrets - revealed
Fredrik Sanberg/Scanpix (File)
OPINION »
'The future of freedom on the internet is at stake'
Peter Håkansson/Swedish Fashion Council
SOCIETY »
Fashion prize turns Rookies into players
La Neta
LIFESTYLE »
My Swedish Career: We talk to the founder of Stockholm's favourite Mexican restaurant chain - La Neta
Leif R Jansson/Scanpix
NATIONAL »
Riot police 'resorted to racial slurs' in Husby
Scanpix
SPORT »
Sweden win ice hockey world champs at home
Scanpix
SPORT »
Swedes sweep top French football awards
fastighetsbyrån.se
GALLERY »
Property of the Week: Check out this funky three-room apartment on the Stockholm island of Södermalm
Scanpix
GALLERY »
Sweden win Ice Hockey World Championships. See the celebrations in Stockholm
Scanpix
GALLERY »
Youths burn 100 cars in north Stockholm riots
Finest.se scanpix.se
GALLERY »
People-watching: Nightlife, Ice Hockey Gold celebrations, the royal family... You name it, this week's gallery has it
WikiCommons
BUSINESS & MONEY »
Solna voted best place to live in Sweden
Scanpix
TRAVEL »
Quiz - Think You Know Sweden? This week we head to one of Sweden's ten biggest towns. But which one?
Scanpix
LIFESTYLE »
Eurovision host: 'Not everyone has to like me'
Scanpix
LIFESTYLE »
Denmark wins Eurovision 2013 in Malmö
Paul Hansen/World Press Photo
SOCIETY »
Award-winning Swedish photographer cleared of manipulation
Scanpix
NATIONAL »
A Congolese-Swedish pastor explains the roots to recent cases of parents exorcising demons from their children in Sweden
File photo: AP
NATIONAL »
H&M backs Bangladesh building safety accord
Scanpix
GALLERY »
Eurovision: second semi-final entries
Screenshot: American Apparel
SOCIETY »
Swedes slam American Apparel over 'sexist' ads
Hasse Holmberg/Scanpix (File)
BUSINESS & MONEY »
Housing crunch forces more young Swedes to live with mum and dad
Asif Akbar/sxc.hu (File)
OPINION »
'Not all discrimination in Sweden is racism'
Lana Wimmer
GALLERY »
Hidden Stockholm Gems: Ulriksdal's Palace
Sex in Sweden: condoms optional - study
SOCIETY »
Sex in Sweden: condoms optional - study
AP (File)
POLITICS »
Russia 'lacks capacity' to attack Sweden: Reinfeldt
fastighetsbyrån.se
GALLERY »
Property of the Week: This week, we're looking inside a home from the 1700s just west of Stockholm. Complete with two cannons.
Scanpix (File)
OPINION »
JobTalk: Top ten tips for earning a higher salary in Sweden
Eddie Gee
LIFESTYLE »
Check out the back catalogue of all The Local's Swedes of the Week
Photo: The Local
SPONSORED ARTICLE
Stockholm International School - what’s in IT for students?

 

Latest news from The Local in Germany

More news from Germany at thelocal.de

Latest news from The Local in France

More news from France at thelocal.fr

Latest news from The Local in Norway

More news from Norway at thelocal.no

Latest news from The Local in Switzerland

More news from Switzerland at thelocal.ch

Search News


Register

Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss

REGISTER FOR FREE »


Blog Update: Boston Blatte

20 May 15:25

Hockey. Hockey. Hockey. »

"BANG!!!! BANG!!!! BANG!!! In the midst of the Stanley Cup’s Eastern Conference semifinals series, every Bostonian knows it is all about Bruins ice hockey. Oh right. I am in Sweden, home of the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation GOLD Champions. And there is certainly no doubt ice hockey fever has taken over Sweden. A lot of Swedes,..." READ »

Holiday Luxury Villa in Portugal
Casa Birgitta in Algarve, Portugal. Reduced price in best location. Private estate on white sand beach. All amenities included. Book here today! edward_george1@hotmail.com
The Local's new Marketplace
Find products and services that are specifically focused on English speakers living in Sweden!
FULL DETAILS
Counseling in English
Individuals & Couples - Stockholm Beth Rogerson PhD - Clinical, Marriage & Family Therapist
Click or call 08-5580 1266 now
Trade binary options
Create an account with Banc De Binary, the world’s most reputable binary options firm, and start cashing in today! You can start by practicing with our free $50,000 demo account.
www.bbinary.com
Therapy in English
Expat counsellor & talk therapist offers counselling for stress, relationship issues, sexuality, culture adjustment & life coaching. Private & confidential. Stockholm or Skype. Contact me today! 08-559 22 636 or
CLICK HERE