M is going to the polls on a promise that the police's surveillance cameras will be doubled in the coming years. From 5,000 cameras in place at the end of 2027, to 10,000 cameras by the end of 2029.
According to M, the police are well on their way to reaching the current target of 5,000 cameras. At the end of last year, there were just over 3,900 police cameras, both fixed and mobile. This compares with under a thousand (948) at the end of 2022.
Greater effect on theft
The increased camera surveillance is justified by the fact that it will provide security. M also emphasizes that the cameras give the police better opportunities to prevent and investigate crimes in vulnerable areas.
"The very best results are crimes that can never be committed again because they are discovered in advance when you follow a person in real time," Kristersson says at a press conference in Malmö.
According to Manne Gerell, associate professor of criminology at Malmö University, international studies show that camera surveillance discourages theft rather than violent crime.
"But we have a couple of studies that point to it being able to counteract violent crime in vulnerable areas as well. We have a hypothesis that violent crime in vulnerable areas is driven more by criminal networks that are a bit more rational," he says.
Opinion has swung
Nor has the effect been that crimes are simply committed elsewhere, in locations without camera surveillance.
"Rather, it seems that there are fewer violent crimes, but there are only a couple of studies that show that, so we shouldn't make too big a deal of it."
A common objection to camera surveillance is that it violates privacy, but recently public opinion has swung.
"Now there is a lot of support for it. Around 90 percent of the population wants more camera surveillance," says Gerell.
