In order to combat serious crime, the police have in recent years initiated several so-called special events. This means that resources can be drawn from police areas around the country for the operations, which can be both unforeseen and planned.
But there are major shortcomings in the police’s work with special events, states the National Audit Office. Among other things, the police authority cannot account for how many special incidents the police have carried out, how long they have lasted, how many years of manpower were involved or the additional costs for the efforts.
– All in all, this means that it is not possible to measure whether the particular events have had any effect, says Linda Jönsson.
Special events can make it difficult
Special events can be an effective way of directing work in the first hours or days after a serious crime has been committed. But long-term special events do more harm than good, especially for the local police areas that must contribute resources to the efforts, according to the National Audit Office.
– Among other things, they have to stop crime prevention activities, which, for example, makes it more difficult to work against new recruitment to criminal gangs.
Not feeling involved
The local police area managers state that they do not carry out any impact analyzes of how their operations are affected by resources being sent to a particular event. They also do not feel involved in the decisions even though they have the best understanding of the problems and needs that exist in their local police area.
– The ability needs to be available locally to be able to deal with this problem. Long-term special events are not the solution to the problem of serious crime, says Linda Jönsson.
The police object to the criticism
The Police Agency comments on the report on its website. They write that a special event is a form of management and not a tool for law enforcement. “The possible consequences that arise when extraordinary situations lead to changed resource needs cannot be derived from the form of management”.
