Clear sign for security guards in central Gothenburg

"Fighting and fighting, but it has been a bit of a boxing match, also within the police where we have had a few different pictures of this," says Erik Nord after the decision of his own authority's legal unit.

The reason he and others opposed the idea from the beginning is that the law on order guards is an exception. Ordinances on order guards must therefore apply on special occasions. But the city's politicians wanted order guards who routinely patrol public places in the center for preventive purposes - thus a more general application.

When the police department said no, the city appealed.

- So after the summer last year I went up to Axel Josefson (M), because they were not happy with the fact that we said no, says Erik Nord.

The chief of police proposed a joint preparation and an adjustment of the application, where the police would in practice decide what the guards would do, where they would be etc.

- We do not want to get a lot of cared-for drunk drivers who are not really the big concern, but we need to allocate resources to transport, explains Erik Nord.

Then there were a few more trips both at national level and with their own legal department before the decision was made yesterday.

- I was very pleased, because now we get the chance to try this for a year, and then maybe new and better legislation will come, says Erik Nord.

The decision from the legal unit provides many opportunities, he thinks:

- Before the service, it can even be that the security guards get suspended with us. So close we want them. We can tell you what problems we want to focus on.

The guards are paid by the companies from which the municipality buys the services. But Erik Nord is no stranger to the police being able to later put together a special training and employ the guards themselves. These would then act as a support organization.

- They could handle a lot of hand transport, guarding assignments and order keeping. And from that group we could, after a few years, recruit good prospective policemen, he thinks.

Isn't there a risk of creating an A-team and a B-team within the police then?

- Police guards have two weeks of training, police officers have two and a half years. It is clear that there are differences in competence. But on the other hand, the guards should only be used for a small part of the police mission, says Erik Nord.