The fight against gang crime is one of the main issues in the Tidö Agreement between the government and The Moderate Party. Three years after the agreement was presented, a number of penalties have been tightened, the judicial system has received increased resources and new tools.
But it is difficult to determine that gang crime and organized crime are on the way to being pushed back.
A positive development is that the number of shootings has decreased significantly. There are also fewer people dying in shootings.
In 2022, 314 shootings occurred up to and including September. For the same period in 2025, the figure is 113, according to the police. The number of people shot to death during the same period has decreased from 49 to 26 people (the figures do not include the ten people who were killed at Risbergska in Örebro).
Will there be more?
The police point out that they are managing to prevent significantly more violent crimes, not least thanks to extended opportunities for secret surveillance of criminal environments. According to the police, many more fatal shootings are also being solved.
On the other hand, bombings and arson attacks have increased. However, they rarely result in fatalities and the bombings have recently mostly been carried out with powerful pyrotechnics and not explosives.
Another positive development is that more gang criminals operating from abroad are being arrested. So far this year, it is 183 people, a record according to the police. Of these, 35 are classified as "priority actors".
However, there are few signs that the number of gang criminals is decreasing. According to the situation report presented by the police in the fall of 2024, it is estimated that there are 14,000 active gang criminals in Sweden and an additional 48,000 with connections to gang crime. The figures are expected to be written up when the next situation report is presented in November.
The police now also estimate that around 700 gang criminals are operating from abroad, which is a hundred more than previous estimates.
Getting younger
A negative trend since 2022 is that increasingly younger people are being recruited by gangs to commit violent crimes. In 2022, 14 children under the age of 15 were suspected of being involved in murder plans up to and including September. Since then, the number has quickly risen and so far this year, it is 127, according to new figures from the Prosecution Authority.
The suspicions against these children are mainly related to attempts, preparation, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting murder, but also nine completed murders and a few cases of instigation.
Children are often recruited through social media, where gang criminals post orders for violent crimes. A new trend is also that children have started recruiting other children, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Still high
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (The Moderate Party) does not think that one can claim that crime has worsened since 2022, but that it has changed.
Criminologist Manne Gerell believes that the overall picture is that it has improved.
The best indicator for me is how many people die or are seriously injured, and there we have seen a massive decrease in shootings, he says.
Gerell cannot point to any specific measure in the Tidö Agreement that is decisive, but rather believes that the success is mainly due to the police receiving more resources.
Everything else is small puzzle pieces that individually can hardly have played any role, he says.
Risk of violence spirals
Among the least effective measures, he ranks the visitation zones, which have been used less than expected and have not given any clear results when used.
The police and the government point out that the level of violence within the gang environment is still high and the risk of new violence spirals is latent.
A concern is that hundreds of children and young people who were taken for involvement in these crimes a few years ago will soon be back on the streets again if they are not already, says Gerell.
Legislative proposal for extended criminal liability for attempts, preparation, and conspiracy to commit crimes
Legislative proposal for a new indefinite prison sentence, security sentence
Legislative proposal for the police to use AI for facial recognition with cameras in real-time
Legislative proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 years for serious crimes
Legislative proposal for a completely abolished discount on sentences for young people between 18 and 21 years
Legislative proposal for reduced discount on sentences for young people 15-17 years
Tighter rules for conditional release come into force on January 1
Investigation proposal for the police to use crime provocation
Legislative proposal for the possibility of deporting foreigners with gang connections
Investigation proposal for reversed burden of proof in cases of confiscation of assets
Investigation into new opportunities for the police to intervene in the cyber environment
Several legislative proposals from the penal law inquiry, which among other things proposed that:
repeat offenders should be judged more harshly.
the penalty scales for about fifty crimes should be tightened.
less consideration should be given to mitigating circumstances
up to double the penalty for crimes linked to gang crime
Source: Ministry of Justice
