The Swedish centre-right coalition government that took power late last year announced it will be developing a national strategy to tackle surging levels of gang crime after the country saw a record number of fatal shootings last year.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer, a member of the centre-right Moderates, announced Tuesday at the People and Defense National Conference, that the government was developing a national plan to deal with criminal gangs along the lines of previous strategies to combat terrorism and domestic extremism.
“We need to get a completely different unified system force to push back the gangs,” Minister Strömmer said and added that the government is looking to review a law that makes participation in criminal gangs illegal, broadcaster SVT reports.
Katharina von Sydow, president of the police union, welcomed the announcement, stating that police have previously demanded expanding their ability to eavesdrop on criminals and said more resources for the Police National Forensic Centre was also positive.
National Police Chief Anders Thornberg also commented after the announcement saying, “It’s a particularly serious situation we have in our country with blasts and shootings in the streets and squares.”
Last year, Thornburg admitted that mass migration played a major role in Sweden’s problems with gang crime saying, “it is based on a number of different factors. A sharp increase in demand for drugs, accelerating technological development and digitalisation, increased migration and lack of integration.”
Earlier this week, a former Swedish gang member spoke to SVT, claiming that children were behind most of the serious crimes perpetrated by gang members saying, “It’s the children who are the machine. If the young people stop being recruited, there will be no activity.”
According to the ex-gang member, many children believe that when older members are in prison they will stop earning cash saying, “They think: ‘If the elderly are inside, I’ll stop earning cash – so I’ll do it for him’. Because if a 15-year-old commits a murder and gets a few years in prison, then they think it’s nothing.”
Earlier this month, Max Åkerwall, deputy commander for firearm violence at the Stockholm police, also stated that children were heavily involved in gang violence saying, “Previously, the people were 20-25 years old, in 2022 we have seen that the age creeps down and down. Now we see that they are 14-17 when they commit these crimes.”
Last year, Sweden saw a record number of fatal shootings, many of which were linked to violence between rival criminal gangs.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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