Response to interpellation 2025/26:540 on local police presence and more police stations
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M considers that the government prioritizes increased local police presence and that the police density in Sweden is now the highest in modern times 1. 1 2 M argues that the number of police officers in the Stockholm region has increased under the current government after it decreased during eight years with S 1 2. 2 3 M claims that the large-scale closure of police stations occurred under S rule 2 3. 2 M argues that the citizens deserve a constructive discussion about expanding with more police stations 2. 2 M considers that S would have difficulty securing long-term funding for the police if they obtain government power 2. 3 M argues that they have stopped the closures of police stations by changing the government and that the current police density is the highest in modern times 3. 3 M emphasizes that the growth is now managed locally so that 85 percent of new police officers work in field service near the citizens 3. 3 M warns that long-term funding for police growth is threatened if S negotiates with MP and V 3. 4 M claims that they have reduced fatal shootings, lowered inflation, and improved the growth forecast 4. 5 S argues that the government is driving the economy into the ground with large deficits and that they cannot afford new reforms 5.
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 the initiative to prevent police stations and police premises from being closed down around the country, and if I intend to give the Police Authority a clear mandate to ensure local police presence throughout the country, including through physical police stations where it is justified. Mathias Tegnér has also asked me if I consider that a municipality such as Tyresö, with almost 50,000 inhabitants, should have its own police station and how I intend to act based on my view on the matter.
For the government, increased local police presence throughout the country is a very high priority. Everyone should be able to feel safety in their everyday lives. This requires a locally present police force that can quickly intervene when required and that offers good service. Therefore, the government is working purposefully to reach the goal that the police density in Sweden shall at least correspond to the average in the EU.
We are really not there yet, but we have come a good way during this parliamentary term. During this parliamentary term, the number of police officers has indeed increased by approximately 3,200. Sweden now has the highest police density in modern times.
Since the question for this debate is rooted in the conditions in the Stockholm region, it is worth highlighting that the number of police officers is now also and finally, one might say, increasing there as well. During eight years with a Social Democratic government, there were 130 fewer police officers in the Stockholm region. After three and a half years with a Moderate government, there have been over 600 more police officers in the Stockholm region. And many more are on the way.
The government has also provided the Police Authority with significant resources. During the years 2023–2028, the appropriations to the police are estimated to increase from 37 to 53 billion, which means an increase of 43 percent. This resource growth is therefore not to stop within the organization; it shall be noticeable in people's everyday lives. That direction is also very clearly evident in the government's management of the police. Specifically, it is about more police officers being in outer service and being visible in the local community – more patrols and a stronger presence in everyday life.
Decisions on where police stations should be located and how service and accessibility can be provided in the best way are made by the Police Authority. Through the government's investments in continued growth and a clear steering towards the local level, the police are expected to continue to increase their police presence and visibility near citizens throughout the country. This also creates conditions for more local police stations near the citizens. The government will continue with that direction and steering.
Ultimately, it is about ensuring that the state is present where people live and work. We do this by having a police force that is visible and that makes a real difference in people's everyday lives.
Mathias Tegnér (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister of 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 elongated country, agree that safety is an indisputable right. Feeling safe in one's everyday life is fundamental to being able to live a full life. Being able to trust that police, ambulance, and fire services are available when they are needed is part of the social glue that holds society together.
In many parts of Sweden, also here in the Stockholm region, public services have been concentrated in city centers and larger central locations. Closures of police stations are a clear example of this development. It is a development that must be reversed.
As the Minister was clear about, I have actually asked three questions: Will the Minister prevent police stations from being closed around our country? Will the Minister ensure that there is a local police presence throughout the country, including physical police stations where it is justified? Finally, I have asked the Minister if he considers that a municipality like Tyresö, a municipality that has almost 50,000 inhabitants, should have its own police station.
Mr. Speaker! I note that the Minister for Justice did not say anything about closed police stations in his answer. I further note that the Minister for Justice also did not say particularly much about opened police stations in his speech. Furthermore, I note that the Minister for Justice did not mention particularly much about the reasonableness of a municipality such as Tyresö, with 50,000 inhabitants and a vulnerable area in the municipality, lacking a police station.
However, the Minister for Justice mentioned that the number of police officers has increased. That is correct. And it is good that the number of police officers has increased. But it is equally correct – I was there, in fact – that it was the Social Democratic party congress that already in 2017 decided to increase the number of police employees by 10,000.
It became a part of the S-led government's policy. It laid the foundation for parts of the success with more police that we see here today. The Minister for Justice is celebrating now, and he is right to do so. It is good that there are more police.
At the same time, we know that previous M-led governments closed admissions to police colleges and reduced it to zero for some time. This led to the S-led government subsequently having to increase admissions to the police training, and they opened several police colleges. That is also part of what we see today with more police officers.
I have noted that justice politicians of different colors enjoy quibbling over who did what. My perception from Stockholm County is that most citizens expect us to together find solutions to the issues that are difficult to solve.
I think the Minister of Justice is right. Gunnar Strömmer should receive praise for the fact that the number of police officers is increasing. But some of the praise should also go to the former Ministers for Justice, Anders Ygeman, Morgan Johansson, and Mikael Damberg.
I would like to go back to the main issue. It is not about who did what, but how we handle the decreasing number of police officers.
The questions to the Minister are: Will the Minister prevent police stations from being closed? Will the Minister ensure local police presence throughout the country also when it comes to police stations?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Mathias Tegnér, for the opportunity to discuss these important issues today!
Regarding the growth in the police force, we can note that during this parliamentary term there has been a growth of over 3,000 police officers. We thus have the highest police density in Sweden in modern times.
If we are to talk a bit about the history, we can state that growth has occurred over a number of years. But it is simply a reality that during the eight years the Social Democrats ruled, there were minus 130 police officers in Stockholm. That cannot be bypassed. In any case, it is difficult to blame me.
I can state that we have now succeeded in reversing that development. When we close the figures for 2024, it will be a good bit over 500 new police officers in the Stockholm region. This naturally creates a basis for considering additional police stations.
I have no problem at all answering the question of whether a municipality with 50,000 inhabitants should typically have a police station. As a citizen, I can think that is a reasonable expectation. Then, it is clear that the geography looks different in the Stockholm region, the Norrland coast, or wherever it may be for something. There are a lot of different factors.
As far as the police station in Tyresö is concerned, it was closed in 2015, unless I am out cycling. At that time, it was a Social Democratic government. There were eight years with two Social Democratic governments that had every good opportunity to open the police station in Tyresö, if it was in that way.
The large-scale closure of police stations in Sweden occurred under the Social Democratic government as a consequence of the reorganization of the police. This applies to the station in Tyresö, and it applies to other stations.
Since then, I have become aware that a few closures have occurred thereafter. One, I believe, Mathias Tegnér has highlighted. It was up in northern Roslagen in Hallstavik. Since then, there have been a number of receptions in, among others, Dalarna and Blekinge.
I can, as a citizen, think that it is some too many. I do not believe that anything has happened since then, which I have had reason to follow up on. No further closures have occurred. I state once again that the large volume of closures occurred during the eight years when the Social Democrats ruled.
When we now look forward, the first thing is that the growth of the police must continue. It is that which provides the conditions to increase safety in everyday life for the citizens, regardless of how the police then choose to organize their resources.
The second thing is to provide the conditions to also expand with more police stations etcetera. We are now reviewing this in cooperation with the police. It is clear that we are getting the basis for the police to be physically present in more locations.
A police increase involves, despite everything, other costs in the form of buildings, vehicles, equipment and other. It is a discussion that we can now gladly have. We see, in any case, that the police increase shall increase.
There is a great threat to that development. In that development also lies that we open another police training center in Uppsala. We are fully aware that we in the Riksdag are to discuss nationally, but the issue started in Tyresö. If we have a local perspective, it is an important matter to ensure long-term growth in the number of police officers in this part of Sweden.
I believe that the Social Democrats, in the event that the accident occurs and there is a left-wing majority in the Riksdag after the election, will face quite significant difficulties in securing long-term funding for the police and defense. They will have to negotiate with Vänsterpartiet and Miljöpartiet, who have completely different priorities.
If the Green Party wishes to put together the 25 billion required to restore the one percent goal in aid, those funds will need to be taken from elsewhere. It is that type of prioritization that has enabled a growth of the justice system and defense in our budgets.
All in all, I think that the citizens undoubtedly deserve a constructive discussion moving forward. They also deserve a very sincere description of what the alternatives de facto look like.
Mathias Tegnér (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister of Justice!
I hear what the Minister says about more police. That is good. Then it seems that the Minister would like to quibble about the history and who did what during the last decade. My counterargument will then be to speak about who did what the decade before that.
Even though Minister Strömmer was not there, the Moderates were there. I think that the Minister, who is reported to be intended as the next Moderate party chairman, must nevertheless take responsibility for what Moderata samlingspartiet did, even if the Minister himself was not there.
What the citizens want to hear is how we solve these issues in the future. I think that the citizens want us to address the ongoing police station death.
It is completely obvious that there are a number of decisions made during the Persson government, the Reinfeldt government, and also during the previous Social Democratic government regarding the closure of police stations that I believe were incorrect.
It is important that the police and the Swedish Police Authority are close to the citizens. It is naturally the case that we need more police officers in outer service. That is the reason why several governments have invested in more police training around the country.
It was also one of the stated goals of the police reform that safety should be created with uniformed police officers. But safety is not created only through people in uniform. It is also created through a local presence. In many cases, safety is created precisely through a police station. A police station means very much for many people.
A year ago we were here, just as the Minister said, and debated the closure of the police station in Hallstavik. Now it is closed. My question concerns people who experience that the police are moving further and further away and about places where police stations have been closed or risk disappearing.
My perception is that reality is heading in the wrong direction. Just as the Minister mentioned, the police station in Hallstavik has been closed. This also applies to those in Rättvik, Leksand and Vansbro, and there are furthermore discussions about those in Blekinge in both Sölvesborg and Olofström.
When police stations are closing around the country, the Minister for Justice has previously referred to these as local decisions by the Swedish Police Authority. But the government, as the Minister knows, is responsible for its agencies.
I wonder why the government, for example, has not backed the Social Democratic proposal for a moratorium on closing police stations. It would have meant that some of these police stations that have now been closed would not have been closed. I actually cannot understand that. I hope that the Minister for Justice has the opportunity to inform me about it.
Finally, my interpellation is partly about Tyresö, but Tyresö is only one example. It is a municipality with 50,000 inhabitants, schools, companies, and community life. But it is also a vulnerable area.
It could be about Upplands Väsby. It is also a municipality with 50,000 inhabitants. It is certainly not a vulnerable area, but it is still a municipality with insecurity. It could be about Bro. It is a municipality that is somewhat smaller, but there are two vulnerable areas. These are municipalities that need a local police presence and a police station.
My question to the Minister is: What is the government doing to stop the death of the police stations?
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! The most important thing we did was to kick the Social Democrats out of Rosenbad. If words are to have any kind of reasonable meaning and value, the great soot-death for the local presence in the form of police stations occurred during the eight years when the Social Democrats ruled.
I understand that Mathias Tegnér wants to dismiss all discussion about history as some kind of political bickering. But if citizens are now to be able to make an informed choice about the future, it is after all not entirely unreasonable to take part in how parties act when they govern – not just when they stand in the Riksdag's rostrum and oppose.
It is simply a reality. After the major police reform in 2015, which had the intention of strengthening local police presence and safety, the result was a mass death of police stations near the citizens. Furthermore, it led to the police being, so to speak, withdrawn from the local to the regional level, further away from the citizens.
The most important thing we could do to stop the closures was to replace the previous government, which we did. The examples we see now can absolutely be said to be a handful for many. But as far as I know, there have been no new closures since we had the last discussion about this, some years ago.
And when I speak with the police and look forward, the discussions, therefore, are not about which stations should be closed, but where we will be able to open up again. Why can we have that discussion now, for the first time in 10–15 years? First and foremost, it is because we have long-term funding and a plan for the police that is based on significant growth until we have a police density that corresponds to the EU average. The police density we have now, if we look at the substantial 3,000 that we have delivered during this mandate period, is therefore the highest police density we have measured in modern times in Sweden. It creates conditions to also think in a different way when it comes to the physical presence in the form of police stations.
If we stick to the Stockholm region, one could say that there are many positive effects of the police reorganization. It is more about seeing the police as a cohesive authority, sharing information, and cooperating in a completely different way. It has been indispensable, for example, for the fight against the recruitment of children into criminal networks, which no longer have any geographical boundaries but move across the entire country. But there is no doubt whatsoever that there was some "plugging in and out" when it comes to the local presence. We are turning that around now.
How do we manage this then? Yes, we manage it in a very clear way. We already told the police two years ago that growth should no longer occur anywhere in the organization, but it should occur locally. The police have, through the Commissioner of the Swedish Police, converted this into a formula stating that 85 percent of all new police officers shall go into outer service, in blue uniforms close to the citizens.
I am quite convinced that the citizens in Tyresö also experience this: For the first time in ten years, or however long it has been now, there will be more police in Stockholm, and furthermore, the growth is being steered closer to the citizens.
And this must, naturally, continue moving forward. It creates some friction when one is steered so clearly in that way, but for us, it has been crucial to be credible before the citizens. If we are now investing so many tax dollars in this, it must come out to the citizens.
The logical consequence of that growth is also that we can finally have a discussion with the police about where more police stations can be opened – not where stations should be closed. That dialogue is ongoing. Ultimately, it will be the police's decision, but the prerequisites are thus in place.
Let me raise the warning flag once again. If it were to be the case that the Social Democrats return after the election and are to negotiate their budget with the Green Party and the Left Party, the basic long-term financing for the police growth is threatened. Somewhere, the Green Party's and the Left Party's enormous ambitions in other areas must be accommodated. It will ultimately affect the safety for the citizens in Tyresö as well.
Mathias Tegnér (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Minister of Justice is a recognized good rhetorician, and he shows that here as well. On the other hand, just like the Minister in the interpellation debate before, he engages in number-tinkering. If we focus on economics and not on police growth, I want to say that what has been needed are broad agreements that hold over time. The Minister knows that one of the prerequisites for the police growth we see now is decisions that were taken by the previous government.
But instead of finding the broad agreements, the Minister speaks about this issue as if it were extremely divisive between parties. It is to win elections. But it is not good for our country to create conflicts that do not exist.
But if we are now going to talk about the economy, it is actually the case that the government that the Minister sits in is in the process of driving our economy into the ground. When we entered the mandate period, we had large surpluses. Last year, a deficit of 100 billion was made. This year, the deficit will be 200 billion. Probably, the deficit in the coming years will be 200 billion.
This means that Sweden risks falling into the EU's deficit procedure. In addition to this, our Finance Minister has stated that we can no longer afford new reforms. At the same time, various Tidö parties have spoken about tax cuts of approximately 140 billion.
The great risk in Swedish politics right now is actually that we have a bourgeois government that is driving our economy into the ground. They make us appear as a country on the edge of Europe, and the EU will give us a piece of our mind because we have too large budget deficits. The big problem is that we have a bourgeois government that is once again driving Sweden's economy into the ground.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Mr. Speaker! It feels fantastic to conclude the term with some economic-political debate. But my starting point shall nevertheless be the issues of security.
I have no problems with broad agreements. The problem is just that the Social Democrats, so to speak, do not sign a contract for their side of the politics. We can stand here and agree on just about anything. But after the election, if you on the other side should get a majority, you shall negotiate on the formation of the government not with me but with Vänsterpartiet and Miljöpartiet – with Nooshi Dadgostar and Daniel Helldén. They are the ones you shall negotiate with.
The voter should probably think about which side of politics, overall, prioritizes safety, security, defense, and police. I am fully aware that there are other important issues. But when it comes to these issues, one is in much worse company if one is to negotiate with Miljöpartiet and Vänsterpartiet than if one is to negotiate on our side of politics. I believe most people can agree on that. Then one can prioritize other issues higher, but this is at least a reality.
Regarding the economy, we can state the following. We entered the Government Offices in the autumn of 2022. At that time, it was not only that the fatal shootings had tripled over ten years – we had a record of 62 fatal shootings – it was four in Norway, four in Denmark and two in Finland during the corresponding years. Now we have succeeded in pushing this back by almost 75 percent.
Inflation was double-digit. It is now back below 2 percent. The interest rates meant that there was not a single household in this region that did not wake up with chills in the morning. Now the interest rates are back to normal levels.
It is a reality that we emerged from a boom and yet had the worst growth figures in the entire EU. Now, however, the forecast is that we are going to have the best growth in the EU.
So we are coming out of this: from high inflation to low inflation, from high interest rates to low interest rates, and from the bottom of the barrel when it comes to growth at the EU level to now having forecasts of peaking at the EU level.
I hear the Social Democrats saying that we should change direction. That means: back to record numbers when it comes to the shootings, back to inflation, back to high interest rates and back to the rock bottom when it comes to the economy. I do not believe that, even though I still want to end nicely and ecumenically by wishing a happy summer.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.