Outside a gigantic sports hall in northwestern Copenhagen, young people are moving around on inline skates as well as children from Nordsjælland's affluent families.
In an office at the hall, municipal employees are working to prevent recruitment to criminal gangs.
If the young people are not integrated, we will lose the battle against gang crime. Stable schooling, leisure activities, and cultural exchange reduce the risk of being drawn in, says Blådal Hansen.
Unlike Sweden and Belgium, we have not had parallel societies to the same extent. Here, the City of Copenhagen has invested early in vulnerable residential areas.
Swedes create uncertainty
After the latest wave of violence in the Danish capital, where several Swedish teenagers have been arrested suspected of serious crimes, the preventive work has been stepped up.
That we do it after a conflict is nothing new. Now it's about something entirely new where digital media play a major role. It has created uncertainty and many young people feel unsafe. Therefore, we must show that we are here and that we want the best for them.
To reach the young people, it's also about building a relationship with older gang criminals, emphasizes Blådal Hansen.
We have a broad network of contacts, but it's not something that has come overnight. It can take 50 conversations before they feel safe sharing things.
Want to protect their brothers
In the office, a hotline is open 24/7 to receive calls, even from gang criminals when it comes to a serious situation.
We can receive calls from gang criminals who ask us to keep an extra eye on their little brothers. Many do not want their close relatives to be drawn into the same environment, and then the whole society must be there.
At other times, they can act as mediators:
A concrete example is when I received a call from a person who told me that his nephew had been mistaken for a criminal. It took less than 24 hours for us to clear up the situation, says Blådal Hansen.
Abolished confidentiality
In Denmark, the police also play a role in the preventive work. Since the 1990s, the country has abolished confidentiality between social services, schools, and the police.
The paragraph allows us to catch young people early, and it works well for many of those we come into contact with. Here in the sports hall, they can train together with nice people who come from Nordsjælland to play golf.
