The National Police Commissioner and Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (The Moderate Party) had been called to the Parliament's Justice Committee to account for what is being done against gang violence.
Lundh's message was that the police's working methods have pushed down gang violence.
It will take a long time and it will be demanding and difficult, but we will be able to reverse the trend, says Lundh to TT.
As an example of a successful working method, she mentions that the police have managed to make it more difficult for criminals to get access to explosives. During the spring, a trend was noticed with more arson attacks. But now the police seem to have broken that trend, among other things by collaborating with gas stations and taxi companies.
We contacted gas stations extensively and asked them to inform us if they saw young people refueling petrol bombs, the same with taxi companies when they got rides that they thought stood out in some way, says Lundh.
More explosions
The National Police Commissioner had brought statistics on violent crimes. During the summer, 40 shootings occurred with 7 deaths, which is a decrease compared to the summer of 2024. However, the explosions were more numerous than the previous year, 39 during June, July, and August.
There is a latent risk of new violence spirals and violent crimes, but at the same time, we can establish that the shootings over a three-year period have been halved and that this summer has been significantly calmer than previous summers, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer.
The committee had called Strömmer and Lundh on the initiative of the Social Democrats, who believe that the government has failed in the fight against gangs.
"Strangely satisfied"
It's strange how satisfied and calm the government appears. One should, as said, press the alarm button. Gunnar Strömmer talks a lot, but we got no new information today about new measures they are willing to take, says Teresa Carvalho (S), vice chairman of the committee.
Strömmer says that the government will not slow down. And he accuses his Social Democratic predecessor as Minister of Justice, Morgan Johansson, of already in 2017 claiming that organized crime was on its way to being cracked.
We are three years into a ten-year journey. We must take note of the successes we can see, but must continue a very offensive work, says Strömmer.
Vera Leijonklo/TT
Shootings and explosions during the summers of 2022–2025
TT
Shootings, June, July, and August
2022: 105 shootings, 16 deaths
2023: 105 shootings, 16 deaths
2024: 96 shootings, 17 deaths
2025: 40 shootings, 7 deaths
Explosions, June, July, and August
2022: 23 detonations, 20 preparations
2023: 47 detonations, 29 preparations
2024: 26 detonations, 16 preparations
2025: 39 detonations, 30 preparations
Source: The Police
