Response to interpellation 2024/25:560 on the Hallstavik police station and the local police presence
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the government prioritizes increased local police presence and that the Swedish Police Authority has been given a mandate to ensure a visible and safety-creating police 1. M emphasizes that the government is investing in police growth with budget increases and the cancellation of student loans 1, as well as that the number of police officers in Stockholm has increased by 85 percent 2. M believes that this provides better conditions for presence on the streets and in the digital environment 2. S argues that the closure of the police station in Hallstavik is unfortunate and risks safety. S argues that fewer stations in Stockholm County risk worsening the handling of quantity crimes 3.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! Mathias Tegnér has asked me if I intend to take any general measures to save the police station in Hallstavik and if I mean that the closure of the police station in Hallstavik is in line with the principle of re-establishing a locally visible and safety-creating police.
Let me begin with the second question. For the government, an increased local police presence is a priority issue. An expression of this is that the Commissioner of the Swedish Police has received a clear mandate for change to ensure a locally visible and safety-creating police force and good service to the citizens. The government is also working purposefully to reach the goal that the police density in Sweden should correspond to the average in the EU.
To enable continued police growth and strengthen the conditions for police recruits, more than 1 billion kronor has been added to the Police Authority in the budget for 2025. To get more people to apply for and complete the police training, we have also signaled in this year's budget that we intend to submit proposals that those studying at the police training from the autumn of 2024 or later shall, under certain conditions and terms, have their student loans waived or repaid. Last week, an investigator was tasked with further specifying in what way this shall occur.
In the regulatory letter for 2024, the government stated a new goal for the Swedish Police Authority: to increase the local presence throughout the country. We are now following up on this through a specific reporting requirement.
Police presence throughout the country is also about the police providing a good service to the citizens and being available by telephone and digitally. We know that response times at the police contact centers have previously been so-so, and we have focused on that. Now I can state in the Police Authority's annual report that response times improved significantly during the past year. The Authority has also improved its website, where reports of crimes or submission of tips can be made digitally. We have also instructed the Police Authority to report on what measures have been taken to improve service and accessibility for the citizens.
Decisions concerning the location and staffing at individual locations are made by the Swedish Police Authority. The authority is in a better position than the government to assess where police stations should be located and how service and accessibility can be provided in the best possible way.
The government's investments in continued police growth are expected to provide more uniformed police officers in outer service. Together with a clear steering towards the local level and the local problem picture, the Swedish Police Authority is expected to continue to increase the police presence across the entire country, and we continue with our steering of the authority in this direction.
Mathias Tegnér (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for Justice for the answer.
Every Swede has the right to feel safe. I believe that most, both here in the chamber and in our entire country, agree that safety is an indisputable right. Feeling safe in one's everyday life is completely fundamental. Being able to trust that police, ambulance, and fire services are available when needed is part of the social glue that holds society together. In many parts of Sweden, also in Stockholm County, public services have been concentrated in urban areas, city centers, and larger central locations. The police presence is a clear example of this development. Another example is the government's now-decided closure of the service centers.
The background to my interpellation is the fact that, according to a policy decision, the police station in Hallstavik will be closed. This decision is very unfortunate and risks having serious consequences for safety in the area. It also raises a broader question about state presence and access to community services throughout the country.
The Minister of Justice speaks nicely about an increased local police presence being a priority issue. That the Commissioner of the Swedish Police has received a mandate to create and ensure a locally visible and safety-creating police is, of course, positive. But when we come to the heart of the matter, i.e., the police station in Hallstavik, I hear nothing that indicates that the Minister of Justice intends to do anything. In that case, it is the Swedish Police Authority that decides. The truth, however, is that the Swedish Police Authority is responsible to the government. It is on Minister Strömmers watch that the police station risks being closed down.
I believe that the citizens deserve to know: Is the local police presence truly important for the Minister of Justice? If the Minister maintains that the local police presence is important, what does he intend to do to stop the closure of the police station in Hallstavik? If the Minister does not intend to do anything, then the talk about local presence appears to be just talk. I therefore ask: Will the police station in Hallstavik remain or not?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! I have great understanding for the fact that the citizens in Hallstavik think this is a very important issue. In addition to the concrete consequences that follow from such a decision, it can certainly also raise the question of whether one should believe in the promise of a locally visible and present police force. I also have great respect for the fact that locally elected representatives who represent their voters raise these issues here in the chamber.
I believe, however, that it is good if the questions are also directed to those who can actually make decisions about them. Of course, no Minister for Justice, regardless of party affiliation, can make decisions on exactly where the Police Authority should locate its receptions or police stations. It is in the nature of the matter that it is the authority that makes these decisions. This does not prevent the question and the debate from being justified, but the person who de facto has the opportunity to influence the decision is the head of the Stockholm police region and the head of the relevant local police area.
I believe that in the long term it is better that we have this order. The government creates the conditions, economically and in other ways, for continued growth which also, preferably to one hundred percent, will reach the capillaries near the citizens. But at some point, the responsibility for how this shall be organized must be transferred to the responsible authority. This also applies to the police station in Hallstavik.
With this said, I nevertheless think that the citizens in Hallstavik are asking legitimate questions and have the right to expect straight and substantial answers from those who own this decision.
For the government, it is extraordinarily important to ensure that there are long-term economic and other conditions that enable a proper growth of police and a presence of visible and safety-creating police across the entire country, including Hallstavik. But it is the Police Authority that ultimately must decide how to allocate these resources.
Mathias Tegnér (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister of Justice, for the answer!
I realize, of course, that there are a number of decisions concerning the Swedish Police Authority that are also handled by the Swedish Police Authority itself, but we know nonetheless that it is ultimately the government and the Minister for Justice who are responsible for this authority.
It is clear that I, as a Social Democratic Member of Parliament, who have been here at least during the last decade, know that the Social Democratic government – admittedly in unity – was involved in restructuring and expanding the Swedish Police Authority, which has resulted in more police employees and more police officers.
I mean, quite frankly, it is the government's and the Minister for Justice's responsibility to create the conditions for the Police Authority to ensure that there are more police stations and not fewer, if one thinks that local police presence is also important here in Stockholm County. As far as I know, there are no plans to open other police stations in Stockholm County. The Minister for Justice is welcome to correct me if I am wrong – no one would be happier than I. The effect of this is that, during Minister Strömmers watch, there will be fewer police stations in the region we are in and in the region I come from.
I do not want to delve into what has happened historically. The battle for reality is something that politicians who work with justice policy are very good at engaging in. One thing I am sure of, however: closed police stations are bad, and I regret if the police station in Hallstavik is closed down.
Countless articles have been written about robbery, and if the local police presence decreases, there is a risk that the handling of robbery will become worse. In the county we are in, from Norrtälje in the north, where Hallstavik police station is now to be closed, to Nykvarn in the south, we know that robberies are being committed. We have read countless articles about that.
We know that the Swedish Police Authority, despite increased resources, has failed to provide local police areas with the necessary resources to solve property crimes. We also know that property crimes – theft, vandalism, and fraud – constitute more than 80 percent of all reported crimes. It is clear that the combination of closed police stations and the perception that property crimes are simply written off risks reducing the support and the security that people feel.
I realize that this debate is not supposed to be about petty crimes, but there is a bigger picture. Many perceive that the state is withdrawing – police stations are being closed, the state service centers are disappearing, and the Police Authority chooses to drop a large number of petty crimes. Then the question becomes: How can the local police presence become better when there are fewer police stations in Stockholm County?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! To begin with, I think it is very relevant to talk about organized crime and citizen-proximate crime. It is an important part of the change mandate that we have given the new police commissioner.
A shift is now being made regarding gang crime. For example, the crime clearance rate has risen from 15–17 percent in 2022 to over 70 percent today. A corresponding shift must occur in all crime that affects citizens in everyday life and that is not gang-related. That is everything from violence against women to thefts, assaults, and crimes of trespass in stores, and whatever else it may be.
We know that the local presence is absolutely crucial. The police must be visible and create safety in the public space but also have an investigative activity that is locally anchored and where they can, in a completely different way than until now, deal with the crime that affects citizens in their everyday lives.
I therefore think it is very relevant that Mathias Tegnér highlights this aspect. It is, in fact, a completely decisive part of what I believe justifies that we invest so much of the taxpayers' money in growth, which must occur locally, close to the citizens. Therefore, I think the fundamental question is justified, and I fully agree with the analysis.
As regards Stockholm, it is, as we spoke about in an earlier interpellation debate today, a reality that the growth within the police in recent years has not reached the people of Stockholm. During the years 2015–2023, the growth stopped at 14 police officers. I can say that this is very concerning from the perspective of the citizens, in Hallstavik and in other places in the Stockholm region.
I am glad that we are now investing heavily in growth, also growth that will benefit the people of Stockholm. During the last year, we had a growth of 119 new police officers, which was 85 percent more than the total growth during the previous nine years. It is a way for the government to contribute to creating better conditions to ensure safety for the citizens throughout Stockholm County.
Since then, it is the case that the Police Authority must locally decide how they shall allocate their resources. I do not dismiss a single one of the questions that Mathias Tegnér has raised here today, certainly as a representative for his constituents and the citizens in Hallstavik, but it is the police locally who must answer how they choose to allocate the increased personnel resources which now become a consequence of the curves in that regard finally having turned.
Mathias Tegnér (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister of Justice, for the answer!
Just as a side note: I do not live in Hallstavik but in Tyresö. Furthermore, a police station is also missing there – an issue that I have championed for at least five years. On the other hand, our county is large and our constituency is as well, and I am passionate about more police officers and more police stations in our entire county. As mentioned, a police station would also be needed in Tyresö municipality.
I am glad that we agree on the reality. Regarding the speech on history, I believe it was the Minister of Justice himself who spoke about that it was an Atlantic liner that was to be turned. I would say that the old government restructured, expanded, and ensured that more police were recruited. I am glad that the government continues on that line. I believe that more consensus was needed in these issues rather than political rhetoric.
With that said, Minister Strömmer is a good rhetorician, not to mention that matter, but I still want to come back to the fact that a spade is still a spade and the emperor is still naked. The local police presence is decreasing and the police stations in Stockholm County are becoming fewer, not more.
I hope that this debate, along with other debates, can lead to the closure of the police station in Hallstavik being stopped. Because more police stations are needed, not fewer, in our entire country but also here in Stockholm County.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Mathias Tegnér, for the opportunity to discuss this important issue here today!
It pleases me very much to hear about the public service approach in the mandate as a Member of Parliament for the entire Stockholm County but also as a resident of Tyresö, standing on the side of Hallstavikborna. I think that is splendid.
I think all the questions raised here – that the growth of police that is finally happening even in Stockholm should come to everyone, including Hallstavik – are very justified. I just want to say that I am very happy during my shift, even though we know that the growth that has occurred within the Swedish police in recent years has, at all, not come to the people of Stockholm. It is a reality.
I do not need to bicker about history either. But it is a reality to know where we come from. During the past year, we have seen an 85 percent increase in the number of police officers in Stockholm, which can be compared to 14 police officers during the entire period 2015–2023. This will provide different conditions for increased police presence both out on the streets and squares near the citizens and in the digital environment, where we know our youth are to a very high degree, regardless of whether one lives in the city of Stockholm, as I do, or in Tyresö or Hallstavik.
Not least, this is significant on the investigation side. There, it is incredibly important that the police now make the same journey that has been made regarding gang crime, where there has been a fantastic progression for the investigation results. It is important that that experience is now transferred to the local context so that the crimes affecting the citizens in Hallstavik, Tyresö, and Stockholm city can be taken as seriously and met with the same effective measures as gross organized crime.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.