Helena Nordberg in Täby in northern Stockholm is satisfied with the service that she and the others in the housing association have joined forces and financed.
A few years ago, a series of burglaries occurred in a short time in the area, and the neighborhood therefore decided to hire a private security company.
- It gives a feeling of security in any case, that it is patrolled and that there are decals.
It always scares someone away, says Nordberg.
Figures from the association Security Industry show that Swedes spend more and more on their own security.
For example, the number of installed home alarms in private individuals has increased from just over 400,000 to over 630,000 between the years 2012 and 2019.
According to Joakim Söderström, CEO of the Security Industry, the development is due to the increased perceived insecurity.
- It can be anything from sending an assault alarm or a GPS watch with your children when they are out.
But also that you have home alarms or order patrolling guards in your area, he says.
He has no national data on the demand for patrolling guards in residential areas.
There are too few companies that have reported figures, says Joakim Söderström.
Explosive increase
But according to Harald Paulsson, CEO of Larm Assistance Sweden, which is currently patrolling in Täby, interest has grown exponentially.
A couple of years ago, his company went out to about ten tenant-owner associations and residential areas.
Today it is over 50.
- It has increased, you can even use the word escalated.
We receive inquiries about once a day in different categories, says Paulsson.
Criticism of the development
But there are critics of the development.
The politically independent organization Stiftelsen Tryggare Sverige believes that the problem is the lack of a local and present police force.
- I have great respect for municipalities and other actors who procure and buy services in this way.
But we must have a discussion about whether this is the kind of development we want ?, says Magnus Lindgren, Secretary General of the Safer Sweden Foundation and continues:
- There has been a privatization of the monopoly of violence in some sense where we see a shift from the state police to various private actors.