The announcement comes after an investigation by P4 Jönköping which, among other things, showed that police employees expressed themselves in a derogatory manner about the boy's mother when she tried to sound the alarm.
"I have reacted to the information that has emerged in the media and want to form my own opinion about the matter", says JO Per Lennerbrant in a press release.
Malena Grann, head of the police region East, apologizes if the family feels that they were not taken seriously – and welcomes the JO's investigation. She distances herself from the criticized language.
"That's not how we express ourselves as police employees. There must never be any doubt that we treat everyone equally", she says in a press release.
New routines
The police also emphasize that a new national routine has been introduced for when young people go missing from HVB homes since the incident with the two 14-year-olds' disappearance in 2023.
The Police Union also emphasizes that racism has no place within the authority.
"Every crime victim and relative should receive respectful treatment and police officers should act professionally, it's important for the public's trust in the police", says the union's chairman Katharina von Sydow in a statement.
Tried to alert the police
14-year-old Mohamed and his friend Layth were kidnapped and murdered by men in the criminal network Foxtrot in the summer of 2023. It has since emerged how Mohamed's family repeatedly tried to alert the police about his disappearance.
But the police never returned to the family because an interpreter interview with the mother – who did not speak Swedish – was deemed unnecessary. Additionally, the wrong location was noted in the report that was made. It stated that Mohamed went missing from an HVB home in Linköping instead of Nyköping.
According to the JO, actions from the Police Authority will be requested. Then the JO will decide whether the case will be further investigated.
