The criminologist: Sweden is quite spared from this type of event

The murder of the policeman during the night until Thursday will be the sixth that has happened since the nineties in Sweden.

The most recent was 14 years ago, in 2007. 

Always gets stuck 

In the previous cases where police officers have been killed, it has taken place in connection with either escape or an armed confrontation such as a robbery.

Or it has been a person who suffered from mental illness and who was to be taken care of by the police. 

In the fatal shooting at Biskopsgården, however, there is still no suspected perpetrator and the motive behind the murder is unclear. 

- Now we do not know what it looks like or what has happened in this case, it may be that the perpetrator did not even know that it was a police officer who was shot.

What we do know, however, is that they almost always get stuck.

There is only one case that is unsolved, says Jerzy Sarnecki.

"Stupid to attack police"

The shooting violence in criminal circles in the country has increased drastically in the last decade.

According to Sarnecki, police officers are not usually attacked, but violent people may threaten them in the first place. 

At the same time, criminal circles have become heavily armed over the past decade and have a high propensity for violence.

This greatly increases the risk of lethal violence even against police officers.

- From the point of view of the criminals, it is normally quite stupid to attack a police officer.

They know that the police will mobilize then and that the pressure on them will increase, which is bad for business, says Jerzy Sarnecki.

Number of police officers who died on duty due to lethal violence.

Photo: Johan Hallnäs / TT

Unusually dangerous situation

Recent police operations, however, have been successful, in particular the international operations "Encrochat" and "Trojan shield".

The latter led to the arrest of 155 people connected to Swedish gang crime.

This in turn can mean that the risk of police being attacked increases, says Sarnecki. 

- When turbulence occurs in criminal circles, the tendency to violence also increases. But I want to emphasize that we are still quite spared from police officers being murdered, even though the situation is unusually dangerous right now, says Jerzy Sarnecki.