If we don't choose to act forcefully now, we know from experience that violence breeds violence in these conflicts, says Mattias Forssten, police area chief in Södermanland, at a press conference on Tuesday.
The security zones are being introduced at midnight on Wednesday. According to the police, the purpose is to create a "sense of security" and to "make it more difficult for criminals to prepare and commit violent crimes".
The idea is that we should reduce the risks of further violent crimes.
After a violent 2022 with over 30 shootings, it has, at least on the surface, been calmer in Eskilstuna. According to Forssten, the weekend's shootings show signs of a new escalation.
We do not accept the level of violence that is currently taking place in Eskilstuna and we will work with all our might and all our tools to stop it.
Two shot in 13 hours
At 10 pm on Friday, a 35-year-old man was shot multiple times in the Årby district. He later died at the hospital.
The next day, at 11 am, a 20-year-old man was shot in a stairwell in Lagersberg. He managed to avoid serious injuries.
No one has yet been arrested for either of the crimes, which are classified as murder and attempted murder.
There are several ongoing gang conflicts in Eskilstuna, where different sides are based in different districts, but it is unclear whether there is a connection to the current events.
"Generation after generation"
Such conflicts have a tendency to live on from generation to generation. They are difficult to break. There is a legacy of old conflict areas that live on and which we are trying to prevent, said Robert Åkerström, acting local police chief in Eskilstuna, to TT over the weekend.
The current zones, where the police are now increasing their presence, consist of an area that includes Årby and Skiftinge, and another that covers Lagersberg, Nyfors, Myrtorp, Fröslunda, and Råbergstorp.
The security zones will initially apply for two weeks. Robert Åkerström understands that the measure can be seen as short-term, but emphasizes at Tuesday's press conference that the hope is to achieve a calm that gives the police the opportunity to work on existing investigations.
To prevent shootings and explosions in conflicts, the police can introduce security zones, also known as visitation zones.
In the zone, which will apply for a maximum of two weeks but can be extended with a new decision, the police have the right to body-search adults and children, as well as search vehicles, without a concrete suspicion of crime.
All interventions will be documented in protocols.
This is the third time the police have introduced a security zone in Sweden since the law came into effect in April this year. Previously, zones have been introduced in Norrköping and Södertälje, both of which have been discontinued.
Source: The Police
