Reports of violent crime increasing in Sweden’s North
Reported cases of violent crime in Sweden have gone up by on average 39 percent since the beginning of the century, according to figures from BRÅ, the Swedish Crime Prevention Council, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports.
However, the numbers vary depending on where you live, with counties in the sparsely-populated north reporting the largest increases in numbers of police reports, and the figures do not necessarily mean that the actual amount of violent crime in Sweden is on the up.
Assault is the most widely-reported violent crime in Sweden.
BRÅ expert Sven Granath told Dagens Nyheter: “This is a very interesting trend, because on average we have had a positive trend in Sweden where violence is becoming less common. The results could mean that police are getting better at paying attention to violent crime in those counties, but it could also mean that it is taking longer for the decrease in violence to reach those areas.”
Stockholm still registers the largest number of reported violent crimes per 100 thousand citizens in Sweden. Blekinge in the south has the least number of reported violent crimes.
Related Links:
Alaska’s women speak up about violence, abuse, Alaska Dispatch
Northern leaders decry violence against aboriginal women in Canada, CBC News
Iceland has first fatal police shooting, The Associated Press
