Already at the beginning of the year, the politicians in the City of Gothenburg decided to investigate the possibilities of introducing "Stop shooting", a model that has its origins in the United States, where Group Violence Intervention has led to reducing lethal violence in New Orleans, Cincinatti and Boston.
For Sweden, the project started in Malmö as a collaboration between the police, the prison service, the city of Malmö and civil society in 2018. And since then, the number of shootings has decreased.
- We want to put pressure on the individual not to use firearms, says Axel Josefson (M), chairman of the municipal board.
Unclear how big reduction
The City of Gothenburg will now appoint a position to be shared between the four social administrations in the city.
The introduction of Sluta skjut also presupposes that Brå, the Swedish Crime Prevention Council, finances a project management position.
But how big an impact the project will have on the number of shootings is difficult to predict.
According to researchers from Malmö University, who evaluated the project there, it is too early to say how much reduction has taken place.
- We hope, of course, that we will reduce the number of shootings sharply, even though we have fewer shootings in Gothenburg than in Malmö and Stockholm, it is too many, says Axel Josefson.
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After 400 shootings - Gothenburg plans to introduce the project "Stop shooting" Photo: SVT