Dagens Nyheter has taken part in a draft of the police's internal evaluation of the work. It says that the security zone only "marginally" made it more difficult for criminals to prepare and carry out violent crimes. It has also not affected crime in Norrköping:
"It is not possible to see any clear differences in reported crimes when the security zone was established compared to other two-week periods", it says in the evaluation.
A total of 380 body searches and 40 vehicle searches were carried out, according to DN. Two seizures were made: two grams of hash that an addict had in his underwear, and a knife that was found on a homeless person.
Frida Braf, local police area chief in Norrköping, emphasizes that the evaluation is not complete, but says to DN that no serious crimes occurred during the period.
But we cannot say that it is solely due to the security zone.
The security zone in Norrköping was introduced at the beginning of June after a double murder shook the city. It was the first time such a zone was established in the country and it lasted for two weeks.
A security zone, also known as a visitation zone, can be introduced in areas where there is a "significant" risk of a conflict between criminal networks involving shootings or explosions – and where the zone is considered to be of "particular" importance to prevent this.
In the zone, which is to apply for a maximum of two weeks but can be extended with a new decision, the police have the right to body search both adults and children, as well as search vehicles, without there being a concrete suspicion of a crime.
