An investigator will propose a registry and control system to identify, stop and limit gang criminals, regardless of whether they are convicted of a crime or not, the government and the Sweden Democrats announced on Wednesday.
Proposals should also be made on the extent to which relatives and other people with connections to gang criminals should be able to be red-flagged - and what restrictions should apply to them.
The investigator should propose what restrictions a flagging should lead to. This may include which people they are allowed to have contact with, which areas they are allowed to move around in, and which jobs and public assignments they are allowed to have.
At the circuit
"We are very concerned when we look at what this means. It is partly about this wide circle of people who could be involved, and partly how this association is defined," says John Stauffer at the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders.
Even though an investigation is now looking into the issue, Stauffer thinks that the question itself is already worrying.
There are clear problems with the approach that there should be consequences for people who have not committed a crime. The idea that we should approach crime in a different way than by prosecuting people for crimes is a dangerous and problematic approach.
Christoffer Bohman, with a background as police chief in Järva, Sollentuna and Eskilstuna and now a crime prevention expert at Skandia's foundation Ideas for Life, believes that Sweden needs more repressive measures to tackle gang crime.
May have an effect
A system like the one the investigator is going to look at could be effective, he says.
We have had criminal enablers and criminal individuals. We have it in politics, in the authorities, in the business world. As I see it, it becomes a parasite on our society, it can lead to people ceasing to trust the public sector in Sweden.
But if you move too quickly and start "labeling" people, it entails very big risks, he says.
It's good that they're investigating, but I really hope they listen to the legal advice when this comes up.
If you build a system that is used too extensively, it will reinforce the experience of exclusion, he says.
It will hit vulnerable areas primarily, and that is where we have the greatest risk.
