The Tidö parties propose a law on police provocations

On Monday, the Tidöparties will present a legislative council referral with proposals for a new law on special provocative measures in law enforcement. The law should give authorities such as the police the opportunity to provoke crime in certain cases. An investigation into it was completed last fall.

A concrete example is that the police should be able to pretend to be a child who offers sexual services for payment, in order to establish contact and reveal the identity of a suspected perpetrator. Another example is that the police should be able to use fictitious child pornography images to investigate or identify criminals.

Henrik Vinge, chairman of the Riksdag's justice committee (SD), raises another example.

- It could be a police officer who wants to make contact with a person in a criminal network within organized crime and buy, for example, narcotics or weapons, he says at a press conference.

Since before, the police have been able to use provocation, but the working method is not regulated in the law.

- In some cases, this means that it is uncertain for these authorities when and how they may use provocative measures. This uncertainty can lead to the potential of these working methods not being fully used, says Henrik Vinge, and adds that the working method is now becoming clearer.

The measures are to be used in serious crime to obtain evidence and will need the permission of a prosecutor. The opportunity must be greater when it comes to certain types of crimes, such as sexual crimes against children and child pornography. They must be able to be used against adults and children under the age of 15 – in some cases even younger children.

The government and the Sweden Democrats are also proposing a law that will make it possible for law enforcement agencies to create fictitious vehicle details, in order to use hidden vehicles.

The laws are supposed to come into force in March 2027.