Before the Swedish election in 2010, Hummelgaard traveled to Sweden to canvass door-to-door together with the Social Democrats.
He thought it was necessary because the Sweden Democrats had started to grow in opinion polls. He himself was not surprised by the development. In an article in the Danish Politiken, he lamented that the Swedish Social Democrats had not learned from Denmark's mistakes in immigration policy.
That time, we said that it would end badly if Sweden did not have a balanced migration policy in combination with an adapted justice policy. I know for sure that things have started to happen in Sweden, and I have respect for the fact that they have a longer democratic process.
But I do not want to hide the fact that Sweden has been warned about this for many years.
Wants "gang packages"
Hummelgaard hopes that Sweden will quickly adopt parts of Denmark's justice policy.
I hope they catch up as soon as possible. A concrete proposal is to introduce "gang packages" and open up for double penalties for gang criminals, he says, referring to the regular, increasingly harsh, package measures Denmark has introduced against "gangs" (criminal gangs).
I am fully convinced that harsh penalties are necessary when committing serious crimes, even at a young age.
The Danish minister also mentions preventive measures.
Preventing young people from even considering the criminal path is crucial. But it is difficult to prevent if there are too many who need help, he says, and emphasizes that Denmark has had to be tough and "creative":
We pursue criminals through, for example, the Tax Authority and housing associations. If a person is criminal, we can throw out the whole family. It's about making life as sour as possible for criminals.
25 incidents
Recently, Denmark has been hit by a wave of violence. Within a week, five Swedes were arrested. According to Hummelgaard, there have been a total of 25 incidents involving "Swedish child soldiers" since April, who in some cases have been paid to commit violent acts.
It's not something we can just sit and passively watch. We can't do much more than have close cooperation with Sweden, and right now we have a fantastic cooperation with Gunnar Strömmer, and also contact with the Swedish opposition.
Hummelgaard wants to strongly warn Swedish teenagers who are considering going to Denmark to commit violent acts.
You will experience the full force of society. We have much harsher penalties, we have a high clearance rate, and you won't get away cheaply just because you're a minor.
