Most police reports filed at Swedish prisons are dropped, according to a survey by Sveriges Radio Ekot.
Only 12 out of 280 police reports at the Kumla, Hall, Saltvik, Tidaholm, and Norrtälje prisons led to prosecution last year.
The majority of the Prison and Probation Service's reports of crimes have been dropped due to lack of evidence. This includes incidents where furniture and objects have been thrown at staff and inmates who have been severely assaulted.
113 reports were filed at Kumla, but only four led to prosecution.
The main reason for these difficulties is that most victims do not want to participate in the investigation, says David Liljeblad, group leader for investigations at the Hallsberg local police, to Ekot.
Another reason is that the number of reports is too large for the local police.
This means that we always have to make an assessment of which case is most prioritized, the ones that happen inside the Kumla prison or those that happen outside the prison walls.
The fact that crimes are not being cleared up can lead to increased insecurity at the prisons, says Germay Woldu, chairman of the association "Criminals' Revenge in Society".
In that way, I think it can become a disadvantage and a problem, because people will get hurt, he says.
