No fatal shootings in a criminal environment in the West in a year

No one has been killed in a criminal environment in police region West since the shooting death at Hisingen on September 9 last year. During the same period, the number of shootings, explosions and arson attacks also decreased compared to the year before.

The police link the development to a changed way of working that should make it easier to detect and stop planned acts of violence earlier.

- We have become better at understanding the networks. We have shared much more information and we have entered the chain of events earlier, says regional police chief Hampus Nygårds.

Is it a trend break or just a coincidence?

- It is a clear trend break. But that does not mean that you can guarantee that nothing will happen, says Hampus Nygårds.

The demand for contractors has not decreased

But fewer crimes committed does not mean that the threat of new violence is gone. In the past year, three people have been injured in shootings in the region.

Hampus Nygårds describes the problem as changing, with actors being replaced and young people being recruited into the networks. According to him, the demand for serious acts of violence also remains.

- If we are to really turn the whole development around and not just deal with the symptoms, then it is to reduce socialization and recruitment into the criminal networks that is absolutely crucial. Because otherwise we are constantly hunting even though it is being replenished.