- The long-term trend has been positive, says Erik Jansåker, deputy police area manager in Malmö, when summing up 2022.

The worst year in Malmö was 2017. Then there were 65 shootings and 58 explosions in the city.

It was also then that Donald Trump exclaimed: "Look what happened last night in Sweden" after seeing a report about Malmö on the TV channel Fox News.

From 58 to 8 explosions in Malmö

Since the peak year of 2017, the number of shootings and explosions in Malmö has steadily decreased.

Through December 23 (when this report was made), there have been 28 confirmed shootings in Malmö, a slight increase from 2021, and eight explosions, by far the lowest in many years.

Erik Jansåker believes that projects such as "Stop shooting" and dropout programs for gang criminals have contributed to the reduction.

- Above all, we work very intensively against new recruitment into these gang constellations, says Erik Jansåker and emphasizes the police's cooperation with the city of Malmö and associations in vulnerable areas.

Crimes are solved

In 2022, five people have been killed in shootings.

Most notable was the shooting death at the Emporia shopping center in August.

About ten people are suspected of involvement in the murder and the investigation is growing all the time.

Right now, a trial is underway against several perpetrators who are suspected of being behind three of the eight explosions in 2022.

- We have had enormously difficult years and it is still difficult.

These are complicated cases that require resources and competence to row ashore, says Erik Jansåker.

Helping other cities

In previous years, Malmö has received resources from other parts of the country to deal with shootings and explosions.

Now it's the other way around.

- Stockholm and Södertälje have had big problems for a long time and we have a certain resource that is there and helps, says Erik Jansåker, who also believes that the government's plans for anonymous witnesses and visitation zones can contribute to the work against the gangs, even if he sees a problem.

- It is extremely important that we do not turn the population against us.

There, extra accuracy is required when we do our checks when there is a shooting and it accelerates in some area, says Erik Jansåker.