Record Increase in Visible Police on Swedish Streets and Squares

The government has been clear that they want to see more visible police locally.

This was one of the change assignments that National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh received when she took office a year and a half ago.

Since then, the number of uniformed police officers in external service has increased by 1,118 people, according to police figures.

This is an increase of twelve percent in a year and a half, the largest increase ever that we have been able to measure, says Stefan Hector, Deputy National Police Commissioner.

This means that Sweden currently has just over 10,600 uniformed police officers in external service.

"More in the square"

Intervention and crime-preventing police account for the largest increase with almost 800. But also area police have become more, plus 169 people, which National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh particularly points out.

They work in the local community preventively, create relationships with those who live there. It's about safety but also about detecting crime, says Petra Lundh.

The municipal police have increased by 15 and the rest is about functions such as traffic police and dog handlers.

The police have previously been accused in other contexts of conducting so-called "pin hunting" to beautify statistics, but Stefan Hector claims that this is not the case here.

We see that we can be more in the square, he says.

Getting more visible police locally is seen as important to help ordinary people with crime in everyday life. A job that was not previously prioritized because large resources went to focusing on gang shootings and bombings.

Sweden is a large country – do you think people notice that there are more police on the streets and squares already?

In some places, I think so, in others maybe you don't notice it at all. This must continue over a longer period of time if it is really going to become clear, says Petra Lundh.

New police goal

Stefan Hector notes that several previous reforms to get out more local police have failed. Now the police's goal is to continue to increase by at least 1,000 police officers per year. Of these, at least 850 will be in external uniformed service.

Today, Sweden has 225 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants. However, the government wants Sweden to reach a police density equivalent to the EU average, which today is between 330 and 340 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants.