Response to interpellation 2023/24:516 on police in the Stockholm region

Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Madam Speaker! Mattias Vepsä has asked me what I meant by what was presented in a debate article in Expressen regarding that municipalities should employ more security guards. Furthermore, Mattias Vepsä has asked me what measures I and the government are taking to increase the number of police officers in Stockholm.

Let me begin by stating that Mattias Vepsä and I share the ambition that the number of police officers in the country needs to increase. This applies in particular in our large cities and especially in Stockholm. Sweden shall be a safe country to live in, and that presupposes a strong justice system and an accessible police force.

It is the government's goal that the police density in Sweden shall increase so that it at least corresponds to the average in the EU. The Police Authority has been allocated special funds to be used for increased salaries and other compensation in order to strengthen the attractiveness of the police profession. In this year's regulation letter, the Police Authority has additionally received a mandate for continued growth in order to ensure that at least the current growth rate regarding the number of police officers continues after the end of 2024.

The Police Authority shall also report back on which measures regarding operational management, organization, and resource allocation the authority has taken to ensure an increased local presence throughout the country. Two of the three change mandates that the new police leadership has received are also linked to the issue of local presence. This concerns, on one hand, re-establishing a locally visible and safety-creating police and good service to the citizens, and on the other hand, ensuring effective management, use, and follow-up of the police's growing resources.

We all know that organized crime is a threat to the system. The violence capital, the financial structures, and the parallel social structures that organized crime has built up have a major impact on both people's safety and society-critical functions. Police resources must be prioritized for this work and complemented by the rest of society engaging in different ways and taking its share of the responsibility. There, security guards fulfill an important function. Security guards complement the police's work and can contribute to ensuring that police resources are primarily used in situations where police competence is necessary.

The legislation for the security guards has been reviewed, and since the turn of the year, a new law applies in the area. The new law is more purposeful when it comes to relieving the police. When the opportunities exist and the need is greatest, the whole society needs to contribute so that Sweden can become a safe country to live in.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mattias Vepsä (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Justice for the answer.

I have spent the morning re-reading the article in Expressen where the Minister for Justice, together with the opposition's city councilor here in Stockholm, is concerned about, among other things, the security guards. I intended to comment on this.

I also looked for ideas and answers to the question I posed in my interpellation: What does the government intend to do so that Stockholm can get more police? The truth is that Stockholm does not have as many police as other parts of the country. Compared to the growth in recent years, Stockholm lags behind by between 800 and 1,000 police officers. There is, therefore, a shortage of police in our capital.

I had actually intended to conclude with this question, but I wish that the government would devote time and effort to answering a question as simple as what the government is doing to ensure the police growth in Stockholm. Instead, one chooses in the article – a bit less in the answer in the chamber today – to worry about the developments in Stockholm after the change of power one and a half years ago.

I want to point out that what has happened in Stockholm is that we have reversed the development. After having focused unilaterally on security guards or other safety-creating measures, Stockholm has chosen to strengthen the work of the district committees in order to be able to work long-term, break the new recruitment, and increase safety at the district level.

Stockholm is a large city, and it is required that one works as closely as possible with the local. This means more social workers, more field assistants, increased adult presence, and thus also increased safety work as close as we can get to those who live in different parts of our city.

There is an opportunity to hire security guards locally if the district committees would like to do so. There is no prohibition against this, but it still leads to a principled question. As I began by saying, there is a lack of police in the capital. The national reinforcement has meant that police have temporarily arrived in our city. Then the presence on streets and squares increases, and thus more people who commit crimes can be detained and sentenced. We can also increase the safety in our city.

From the reinforcements that have been made, I conclude that it is a matter of getting more police into the daily work.

It is the police who are responsible for the safety work. It is no one other than the police who has the monopoly on violence and who, according to the Police Act, has the responsibility to create and maintain safety and security all around in our cities.

We in this chamber did indeed increase the municipalities' responsibility for crime prevention work last summer. It was a good sharpening of the law, and many municipalities are doing a fantastic job.

I would like to have answers on how the government intends to get police on the ground in Stockholm. At the same time as the municipalities' responsibility for crime prevention work has been increased, they are being driven into an ever-deepening welfare crisis, one that forces the municipalities to cut back on field assistants, social services, and schools. This is poorly consistent with what Gunnar Strömmer and Christofer Fjellner pointed out in their article, namely that the municipalities should take greater responsibility for safety.

I also want to ask how the safety work we have to do in the country's municipalities squares with driving them into a welfare crisis.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Madam Speaker! I thank Mattias Vepsä for the opportunity to discuss these important issues in the chamber today.

I will be honest and say that I thought it was very bold of Mattias Vepsä to raise this interpellation in light of the year-end after eight years of Social Democratic rule of the country and one year of rule of the city of Stockholm regarding safety issues.

The year-end figures, which showed that the Stockholm region is 800-1,000 police officers behind, are the figures that are the result after eight years of Social Democratic rule of the country. While the rest of the country saw a growth of hundreds of police officers per region, the Stockholm region lost 130 police officers between 2015 and 2022. I agree that this is an extremely concerning situation.

We can observe that the Social Democrats did not deliver regarding police growth in Stockholm, but quite the opposite. In light of this, one entered Stockholm City Hall and decided to fire 120 out of 180 security guards; it was one of the first decisions one made. It is possibly possible to say that this is in line with what was done during eight years in government when it comes to the police situation, but it is hardly intended to increase safety on the streets and squares in Stockholm.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the police must grow in Stockholm; this is an incredibly central issue. When the new National Police Commissioner took office in December, she received a very clear growth mandate where it was expressed that the growth should occur locally. In connection with this, a coordination function was established in Region Stockholm regarding the police, with a particular focus on taking control of the growth issues in Stockholm.

We must reverse this development. The fact is that the development turned around during 2023 - for the first time in very many years we can actually see a net plus in the growth in Stockholm. It is however only the beginning; much more must be done.

From the government's side, we are concerned about this and dedicated to this task. This also applies to the authority, also locally. The work will continue with high intensity. The citizens in Stockholm have the right to expect a high police presence, a high police density, a visible police, a crime-solving police, and a safety-creating police on streets and squares.

I move on to the question of security guards. We are creating legislation that gives municipalities much greater flexibility regarding the use of security guards, also so that they can support the police in an even better way than they do today. From January 1, a new piece of legislation will apply which allows security guards to be used for more purposes and over larger geographical areas. We are raising the level of training and emphasizing the integration in the interaction with the police.

At Sergels torg, a few blocks from here, there is a location where police and security guards work together to cooperate for the safety of Stockholmers. Unfortunately, 120 of the 180 colleagues have been fired. It is very unfortunate, because it naturally undermines the conditions for this cooperation.

Speaking of what Mattias Vepsä raised, I would like to draw attention to an aspect regarding other adult presence in the public space, for example, field workers from the social services. When I have visited districts in Stockholm and met representatives from the social services and employees out in the field, they have raised the issue of security guards. When the security guards are removed from the public space, not least during evening hours and on weekends, the field personnel from the social services do not dare to be out either. The effect of this is therefore doubly negative.

We are to have more police, more security guards and better cooperation in Stockholm and in the rest of the country.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mattias Vepsä (S)

Madam Speaker! To finance Gunnar Strömmers and Christofer Fjellners initiative on security guards in Stockholm, one must dismiss the tax cut that Stockholm and several other municipalities were forced to make because the government, with the Sweden Democrats and Gunnar Strömmers' party the Moderates at the forefront, chose to lower taxes for the very richest and not increase the appropriations that the country's municipalities depend on to be able to ensure safety broadly.

In the proposal that the Moderaterna stand for in Stadshuset, it is among other things on safety that savings should be made locally, because they have not wanted to raise the tax.

The content of what we hear here is that it might perhaps become one or two security guards, but there would be fewer field assistants and less money to arrange the public environments, which is also important for the safety-creating work. There would also be fewer social workers.

This would mean that the investments in increasing fairness and equality in school and in securing school for everyone regardless of where they live, which in the long term perhaps is one of the most important tasks we have to do to break the recruitment of new ones, would go to nothing.

This policy does not hold together. As usual when we discuss these issues, the government only sees one side and refuses to see the other. This work must be done on both sides - we must manage both to have a strong welfare state and school and to carry out the outreach and social interventions.

We must also manage the other side, which is the hard side. Here I am pleased that some concrete measures are now mentioned from the rostrum, even if they did not do so in the actual interpellation response, so that we can get more police on the ground.

It is true that we have had a hard time recruiting police officers to Stockholm. Sub-explanations are - and Gunnar Strömmer knows this too - the labor market the Stockholm region is, the housing situation Stockholm has had, and the wage level those who work in Stockholm have. The police must do more to increase the attractiveness when it comes to coming to our region and being able to live and reside there.

We have also warned about what a lack of housing policy means for our region specifically. It does not make it any easier to recruit staff. This alarms not only the police but also several welfare sectors - but also companies. It is a completely unreasonable political reality that we do not have the tools to solve even that societal problem. It could lead to increasing the attractiveness of welfare professions but also to being able to get more police officers to Stockholm.

It is still important to stick to the principal question here: Is it the municipalities' responsibility to maintain safety on streets and squares, or is it the police that have the overall responsibility? I think I see a shift here. In the article I constantly refer to, one is quite satisfied and shifts the responsibility to someone else when it does not work.

I would like to see a just as energetic Minister of Justice when it comes to solving just this problem as one sees in other respects. Then it can be quickly investigated and both fast-tracks and more gears can be put in place to solve various problems. Here we would need much more action to ensure that we get more police to Stockholm.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Madam Speaker! Since it is Friday, I choose to truly take the praise that I am generally lively and quick. I am also gladly so when it comes to these issues.

It is a reality that the closing of the books after eight years of Social Democratic rule – these figures Mattias Vepsä himself referred to – was a deficit of 800-1,000 police officers in Stockholm. While the rest of the country has grown, Stockholm has not grown. That is the reality.

In that light, the first thing one does when stepping into the City Hall in Stockholm becomes particularly offensive. The very first thing is, of course, to raise taxes, because that is always the first thing the Social Democrats do, but the second is to fire 120 out of 180 security guards. I cannot see how that can be a strong safety message to the people of Stockholm.

Now we are trying to rectify both of these parts – partly to provide better conditions for municipalities to contribute actively to safety-creating measures, and partly to ensure that there is proper police growth, which will also reach Stockholm, at completely different levels and with completely different volumes than in the past.

I am the first to emphasize the importance of doing several things at the same time. If there is anyone here who signals that they are looking with only one eye and not with both, it is perhaps Mattias Vepsä, who stands up – admittedly upright – for the decision to fire 120 out of 180 security guards in Stockholm but does not see what consequences this has for the conditions of carrying out social work out in the field. When field assistants testify that they do not dare to go out and carry out their work in the public space because the safety-creating personnel who were there previously are now gone, one sees that there are also effects for the social interventions, the crime-preventive interventions that are not about repression or about the police-related and that type of measures.

I think this might be the most serious dimension of this: that one does not see that these are communicating vessels. By having police and security guards there, other adults will also be there, not least from social services and civil society, who can contribute to creating safety, not least for children and young people, during the evening and at night, in Stockholm and elsewhere, to be able to work under safe and secure conditions. Now, the conditions have deteriorated.

When it comes to national policy, I want to emphasize that we are truly working on both sides, both the repressive and crime-fighting on one hand and the social-preventive and crime-preventing on the other. We are removing secrecy barriers so that the police, school, and social services can cooperate in a completely different way, not least to break the new recruitment of children and young people into gang criminality. We are in the process of a new Social Services Act which shall give the social services good opportunities to be proactive, to be able to set requirements and not have to have a defensive role with measures that in practice are based on voluntariness and consent.

Looking over the next six, seven, eight years, we are making record-breaking investments in Swedish social workers. These are historical investments that no previous government can compare to. We are investing in school social teams, in family support, and other things.

Of course, this whole thing must hang together. It is just that the decision to fire 120 out of 180 security guards in Stockholm is a blow in both of these respects. It reduces the safety for the citizens, and it reduces the safety for all field workers and others who are to perform social interventions and in that way contribute to safety.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mattias Vepsä (S)

Madam Speaker! Before this debate, I took the pleasure of going back to the bill for the new public order act and looking at one of the reports that formed the basis for strengthening the security guards' new mandate. It is written by people from Örebro University, and they point out that the absolute most important thing to increase safety on streets and squares is uniformed police. Then, security guards absolutely, as number two together with police recruits, have an important role to fill. That is what we agree on.

I, however, question the description of reality that the Minister here in the rostrum presents. What we see is a government that has left the country's municipalities to their fate. During a cost crisis, pressure is exerted so that welfare will have it tougher. Under the pressure of inflation, we are forced to see warnings from social workers, teachers, and field assistants. We see cuts to the culture of children and young people. We see cuts in housing production. We see reduced ambitions in all those sectors that we know are protective factors to keep children and young people away from crime.

At the same time, the Minister here directs criticism towards how the City of Stockholm manages its district committees when these parts are reinforced, reinforcing the possibility of reaching children and young people through more field assistants and social secretaries who can do their jobs and be close to the families and make special investments in the school. Focus Järva, for example, is a collective approach to lift the entire Järva area.

We also see that the safety figures in Stockholm are heading in the right direction. We see that the police have removed open drug scenes.

I believe it is important that we help each other, just as Gunnar Strömmer and Christofer Fjellner point out in their article. We must pull in the same direction. Then we say yes to police. But we Social Democrats have also said: 1 krona to the police, 1 krona to prevention. That is also what we have delivered in opposition and what we do in Stockholm City Hall.

(THIRD DEPUTY SPEAKER: And this is the Riksdag and not Stockholm City Hall. I am merely clarifying this by reason of the debate as a whole.)

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Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)

Madam Speaker! Once again, thanks to Mattias Vepsä for the opportunity to discuss these important issues today!

There is no doubt whatsoever that Sweden has large and serious problems regarding crime and the citizens' safety, freedom of movement, and privacy. Therefore, this government's perhaps foremost priority is to restore safety, security, privacy, and freedom of movement for citizens throughout the country, regardless of where one lives.

We do that in a number of different ways, obviously by investing a record amount in the Swedish police during the current year and the years ahead of us. We are investing in a record-breaking growth in the Swedish police. In a new assignment to the new National Police Commissioner, we have clarified that this growth shall occur locally and close to the citizens. We have also emphasized the crimes close to the citizens as a specific assignment to the new National Police Commissioner in order to increase the crime clearance rate when it concerns the crime that affects citizens most closely in everyday life - theft, assault, property damage, and that type of crime. It is incredibly important for local safety work and for the citizens.

The investments we make in the police nationally correspond with the investments made by the police in Stockholm and the efforts and measures that are now being taken to achieve a police growth in Stockholm. It has unfortunately been conspicuously absent for many years.

40 percent of the reform space in the government's budget went to welfare in the municipalities and regions. Now, additional funds are being added to the regions. Being able to invest in welfare even under demanding economic circumstances is a great strength.

All this must be done at the same time as we do not undermine the local safety work by removing security guards and other personnel who can contribute in other ways to creating a safe, secure and free everyday life for the citizens in Stockholm and around the country.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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