Forensic engineer: "We need to be more"

He trained as a forensic technician in 1994 and has seen how the criminal development has gotten worse over time.

- The crimes have become more serious. Now there are more revolvers and pistols and then the workload increases because there is more to do in the crime scene, says Allan Jensen.

The lack of forensic technicians is especially evident in the metropolitan regions where several forensic technicians are heavily employed. But even the police region of the East, which includes Sörmland, Östergötland and Jönköping County, has been hit hard by serious crime such as shootings and explosions in the recent period.

- We have had a number of shootings in all police areas and this is generating a lot of work. It unlocks our forensics over a longer period of time, which means that we can put other cases aside.

How do you look at it?

- It is sad because there is a litigant behind every single crime. There is always some goalie who gets hit, which is not good, he says.

In the forensic section in Eskilstuna, you notice that the shortage is great.

- I wish we could handle many more quantity violations, where we are not enough today, says Jan Karlsson, head of the forensic group in Eskilstuna.

A general lack of police officers and an ongoing generation change are two reasons why there are too few forensic technicians in the country.

For the 30 or so forensic technicians working in the east region, there has been more to do when dealing with several complex cases today. At the same time, it has become more and more administrative tasks.

- In the past, we were more out than we were, now the administrative part is starting to take over, says Allan Jensen.

It is also not uncommon for forensic technicians in the Eastern Police Region to be sent to Stockholm to conduct crime scene investigations.

- The workload is strained especially in metropolitan areas and there are requests for staff. We do what we can with the resources we have, simply, says Joakim Jäderstig.

To solve the shortage, it may become increasingly common for the police to employ civilian forensic technicians. According to Joakim Jäderstig, it is already undergoing testing in Stockholm and he would like to try it in the east region.

"I'm not a stranger to that idea," he says.