The National Audit Office claims in a critical report that so-called special events in the case of serious crimes that continue for a longer period of time do more harm than good, for example by local police work suffering, as resources are taken from there to assist in the work.
This leads to crime prevention work in those areas being damaged, which among other things makes it more difficult to prevent recruitment to criminal gangs.
Disagree with
The police do not agree with that conclusion.
“The possible consequences that arise when extraordinary situations lead to a change in the need for resources cannot be derived from the form of management, but are a result of prioritizing the problem picture that the Police Authority currently has to deal with”, write the authority in a press release.
“One of the basic ideas of the police reform was to create the conditions for a nationally cohesive authority, in order to be able to use the authority’s collective resources in an effective way,” it writes further.
National Police Chief Anders Thornberg received questions during a press conference on Tuesday about the criticism from the National Audit Office, but did not want to go into it because the press conference dealt with a different topic.
– But in general, it is important for us to have different reports that reflect how work is done. We take the reports to heart, and we don’t always share the views that are in them, said Thornberg.
The Minister of Justice: Important
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) does not want to go so far as to call on the police to take the criticism to heart, but says in a written comment:
“I welcome the National Audit Office’s review, and it is of course important that the Police Authority now analyzes and draws its conclusions from the recommendations submitted. I will follow up on how this is handled by the authority.”
