A 24/7 open police station in every municipality in Sweden. This is proposed by one of the Social Democratic Party's working groups for new policies.
Citizens lack a present police force, it's completely clear, says Member of Parliament Lars Isacsson, who leads the group.
The proposal comes from one of the working groups that the Social Democratic Party set up after the election defeat in 2022.
What we see in our analysis is that large parts of Sweden feel that the state has withdrawn, people see themselves as second-class citizens and services are disappearing, says Lars Isacsson.
The police are an important part of this.
We must take this seriously and do something about it. It's not reasonable that in 60 per cent of Sweden's municipalities, there are more employees at Systembolaget than there are police officers.
Clear goal
The growth of police numbers has mainly occurred in national units in recent years. The S-group believes that a clear goal from the state is needed to ensure that future growth occurs locally.
The government has already indicated that there needs to be more local police who are visible on the streets and in public spaces. But that's not enough, according to Isacsson.
It hasn't happened so far, at any rate. I think you need to set clearer, concrete goals, and a 24/7 open police station in every municipality is a clear goal.
Drugs and property crime
There are no figures on how many municipalities currently lack police stations that are open 24/7. But in Dalarna, where Isacsson comes from, ten out of 15 municipalities lack a 24/7 open police station.
Do municipalities with low crime rates need 24/7 manned police stations?
Yes, we believe so. There is no municipality in Sweden that doesn't have problems with drugs, where there isn't violence against women, workplace crime, property crime, and so on.
The goal is 50,000 police employees, of which 34,000 are police officers, by 2032, and Isacsson estimates that it won't require additional police officers beyond that.
Do you see any risk that it will come at the expense of investments in more police in vulnerable areas where gangs are present?
No. We need to build up the police in both vulnerable suburbs, industrial towns, rural areas, and cities, and such an expansion is planned. If we can fill the vacancies in cities, police from out in the country won't need to come in to reinforce.
After the election defeat in 2022, the Social Democratic Party set up eleven internal working groups to come up with proposals for new policies for the 2030s.
The working groups will present their proposals to the Social Democratic Party's executive committee in August. Which proposals will become Social Democratic policy will be decided at the Social Democratic Party's congress in 2025.
