The police authority has announced that prices for, among other things, basic education and continuing education for security guards will be raised. Several guards talk about quitting as guards altogether, says Tobias Wassenius.
- Those who extra-break as order guards start to wonder if it's worth it, given the new costs, he says.
Calls for a strikeHe says that on the Facebook platform, a group has been started in which order guards urge each other to strike at the next payday, something he himself does not support.
- It's about showing dissatisfaction. I myself am not behind the strike but I think it is an unreasonably high increase in the fee, he says.
He thinks the timing for the price increase is strange.
- This increase does not go hand in hand with today's social debate that more police and security guards are needed.
Police authority: "Gone back SEK 110 million"Why did you make this raise?
"The last time we adjusted the prices for the fees for the training was in 2010, it has been a mistake not to review them until now," says Lars Sjöberg, process manager for the area of surveillance in the police's national legal department.
He also says that because of the far too low prices, the authority has gone back SEK 110 million since 2007, and that this was no longer sustainable.
- We got a far too large deficit on this item, we are a tax-financed business and this money can be used for other purposes. It was not reasonable to charge too low a cost for the courses because we have a requirement for full cost coverage, he says.
Do you see the risks of raising prices so drastically?
- Yes, it is clear that we anticipated certain risks even before deciding on the price increase. One of them was that many could consider whether they wanted to continue as guards or not, he says.
He further states that many security companies actually pay the training for their employees, but that it is also possible that individual security guards are responsible for the cost.