- Before the weekend, we were at 45 enrollments, in relation to our 36 regular places.
We have had an overcrowding in recent weeks, says Tove Strandsäter, prison manager in Växjö and Jönköping.
The Prison and Probation Service has long been faced with a high workload, and the idea was that the problems would be reduced in Kronoberg with ten new detention cells in Växjö.
Exactly a year ago, SVT Småland got a tour of the expansion, but the places are still not enough.
- Now there will be temporary solutions in Växjö.
We use double occupancy, as two people can share a room.
We avoid isolation cells, but due to lack of space, inmates may need to be there for a short time.
But then you are not isolated in the true sense of the word, says Tove Strandsäter.
Visitor rooms are used
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service has gone up in staff mode for a few weeks now due to the strained lack of space in the country.
In Kalmar, the prison has room for 35 inmates, and according to the prison manager, there is full occupancy at all times.
- We have varied between 35 and against 40 inmates, and then that means we have to use other rooms, such as visitor rooms.
We try to avoid isolation cells, but sometimes we need to lift every stone, says Hans Lagerlöf, prison manager in Kalmar.
Effective police work
The prison in Jönköping is the largest in Småland with its 64 places of detention.
Here, too, the places are filled daily, but it is not overcrowded as in Växjö and Kalmar.
- The situation depends on several factors, such as the work of the police, they are effective.
We in the Swedish Prison and Probation Service have an important social mission, we can not put a note on the door, says Hans Lagerlöf.