Just a few days ago, a young man convicted of murder was arrested at a pizzeria in Rinkeby.

He had then been on the run from justice since last summer when he was released during a guarded leave from a closed youth care home.

Last summer, two young men who have been convicted of murder and attempted murder after receiving help from armed persons were also released.

These are just two notable cases - a total of 26 deviations occurred last year, according to recent statistics from the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care, which Dagens Juridik has read.

That is 15 more deviations than in 2019.

"Deviations shall not occur"

The Swedish National Board of Education is the authority responsible for individually adapted compulsory care and treatment of young people with serious psychosocial problems and adults with substance abuse problems.

In the closed youth homes, young people between the ages of 15 and 21 who have committed serious crimes (for example sexual offenses or murders) end up - given being sentenced by a court to closed youth care instead of to prison.

- Deviations must not occur.

A prerequisite for young people to receive the care and treatment they are entitled to is that they are on site.

Last year, we began extensive work to strengthen security throughout the organization, says Petter Wåhlberg, acting department director at SIS, to Dagens Juridik and continues:

- We must have a good working environment and protect young people and clients when they are with us.

This is how security will be increased

Last year, the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care spent just over SEK 7 million on measures aimed at increasing security.

These include reinforced shell protection, modern cameras, more secure doors and the addition of locking and passage systems.

According to Petter Wåhlberg, the investments will continue in 2021:

- We will also classify the youth homes, build better fences, and become better at intelligence work and making risk assessments.

It is important to remember that technical and physical safety is only part of the safety work.

As recently as two days ago, two young people beat down an employee, forced their keys and escaped from a youth home in Kalix.

They could be arrested an hour later.

A day earlier, an inmate also escaped from the youth home Sundbo in Fagersta.