Severe crimes against children should be investigated within three months from when a suspect has been identified, with the exception of very extensive investigations.
The police have in September more than 400 cases where the wait for the investigation to be completed has been longer than six months.
In most cases where the deadline is exceeded, it is justified, according to Niclas Andersson, head of the investigative activities at the police's National Operational Department.
There are of course examples of when it is not justified, when we should have handled the case in a different way, not been active enough in the case or not had the right resource allocation in them. But fairly common today, I would say, is that you actually have had too difficult, complex parts in the investigation that you need to handle, he says to the radio.
