Greta Berg

Crime prevention efforts

Sweden's municipalities and regions’ (SKR) definition of crime prevention can be found in the book Samverkan i lokalt brottsförebyggande arbete (Collaboration in local crime prevention) by SKR in collaboration with the police and Brottsförebyggande rådet (the Crime Prevention Council). Greta Berg, from SKR Trygghet & Säkerhet department for growth and community building, answers questions about crime prevention.

What is the definition of crime prevention?
Crime prevention are actions aimed at influencing the circumstances of the situation that make people choose to commit crimes and the actions aimed at reducing the tendency of people to commit crimes.
What is the County Administration's role in crime prevention work?

The county administration have an assignment to support the municipalities in the local crime prevention work. It works very differently. Some municipalities feel that they receive great and valuable support from the county administrative board, while others do not see that similar work is being done.

What is the municipality's role in crime prevention?

There is no statutory obligation for municipalities to work in crime prevention. On the other hand, the municipality has a number of statutory assignments that have crime prevention effects. The school and social services are good examples of this. With the conditions that the municipalities have, I think the crime prevention efforts work well. In most places where there are problems, the municipality has an active and important role in local crime prevention.

Which municipalities have come the furthest?
It is difficult to answer which municipalities have come the furthest in their crime prevention work because the conditions and problems are local, but in general I can say that the municipalities that have a functioning local crime prevention council and who have a structured functioning cooperation with the police have come a long way. A major challenge is that the climate of society has hardened and gang crime has spread from the big cities to smaller towns and suburbs. Here we have to work with the police to stop the development.
How do the County Administration and the police work together to prevent juvenile delinquency?
The municipality and the police have a collaborative model that most municipalities use. There are slightly different variations depending on the type of problem you have locally. For example, EST (Effective coordination for security) is about preventing insecurity in a public environment with situation-based measures. When it comes to collaboration between the school and the police, it usually happens at an individual level and then there can be problems with confidentiality. If the pupil is the subject of an intervention, or equivalent, the consent allows parties to speak at a level  best suited the individual.
Tell us about your role

My role at SKR is to partly monitor the interests of the municipalities and the regions and partly to provide support. I represent my members in various government investigations and groups and I have daily contact with the Police Authority and the Crime Prevention Council (BRÅ) on various issues concerning SKR's members. I also answer questions and network on behalf of members. The Municipal Crime Prevention Network (NKB) is a network that meets twice a year and exchanges experiences.

What’s your take on SKYDD’s role in crime prevention?
I believe that SKYDD 2020 will focus on crime prevention efforts in a wider extent than previous years. I have been to SKYDD several times and think it is a fantastic meeting place.