Stockholm’s regional police chief Mats Löfving was found dead in his home Wednesday after weeks of scandal around a sexual relationship he had with a female senior officer and allegations of misconduct.
Löfving, who had a long career within the Swedish police force, was found dead in his home on Wednesday evening, the same day a report was published that recommended he be removed from his post over misconduct allegations.
Police press spokesman Dennis Johansson Strömberg commented on the case saying: “Right now, it’s a case where there are a lot of question marks about what happened.”
“We don’t know what happened and can’t say that a crime hasn’t been committed. That is why we have opened a feasibility study on homicide. It is a standard procedure when we cannot clarify what has happened,” he added.
The Wednesday report that recommended Löfving be sacked revolved around a sexual relationship he engaged in with the former intelligence chief in the Swedish police’s National Operational Department (NOA), Linda Staaf, while Löfving served as deputy national police chief, SVT reports.
The allegations surrounded whether or not the pair’s sexual relationship had impacted Staaf being promoted to intelligence chief and while the report noted Staaf was properly qualified for the position it added that Löfving assigned a handgun to Staaf despite her not being authorised to carry one.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Bengt Åsbäck announced Thursday that the investigation into Löfving was closed following his death, saying: “Due to the fact that the suspect is reportedly deceased, there is no longer any reason to continue the preliminary investigation. It will be closed down.”
The scandal is just another issue for Sweden’s beleaguered police force, which has struggled to deal with rising levels of gang crime and deadly shooting violence across the country, which broke records last year.
Christoffer Bohman, who resigned as a member of the Swedish police last week, spoke out on the issue, saying: “Throughout my professional life, I have believed that the police alone can reverse the serious violence that has befallen us. Now I have come to the realization that this is not true and last week I resigned.”
“As a police officer, I, and my colleagues, have come to dedicate our lives to putting people in jail, but I realize that it matters less that we prosecute more people than ever before if there are ten in line for every person we take away,” he added.
Sweden’s police have also struggled to recruit new officers, and some areas have been forced to rely on civilian investigators due to a lack of officers available to carry out investigative duties.