After riots in Linköping and Norrköping on Maundy Thursday, the Easter weekend continued with one of the worst riots in modern times. The most responsible for managing the public gathering in Örebro was commander Peter Karlsson.
During the Örebro effort, where did you sit?
– In Dalarna.
In the police house?
"No, I was sitting at home and was connected on the phone.
We have information that you were in the mountains?
–Yes. I have an apartment up in Sälen.
"Should sit with the staff"
Patrik Danielsson, national chief safety officer at the Police Union, does not think it is appropriate to have a remote commander in such a large event where there is a fear of disturbance of order.
"You should sit with your staff. If he couldn't be there, they should have changed commanders.
Peter Karlsson, on the other hand, thinks that his physical presence was not absolutely necessary as the deputy commander was on site later in the evening, while he states that he himself was responsible for contact with the media.
"The operational management is handled by the operations manager at the operations centre and the police operation management on the ground, not by the commander-in-chief," he says.
"Better to be closer to staff"
In Sveaparken in Örebro, the police declared a red situation, the most serious security situation where the police are subjected to violence from a crowd. A police officer who participated in the operation in Sveaparken during the riot is critical of the fact that the commander was not present in such a sensitive situation and that they were instructed to take in Rasmus Paludan despite the situation.
"Then I hear on the radio that people question whether the management has the same situational picture as us in the park.
The policeman felt that there was a gap in the situational picture from those who were on site compared to the directives from the management. But Peter Karlsson emphasizes that communication with the rest of the command management worked well.
How do you see the decision today? That you were in your home in the mountains?
"It's clear that with the benefit of hindsight, it might have been better to be closer to the staff. For the decisions it does not matter, but for the staff.
Several decisions were delegated, but not the decision to dissolve the gathering. That decision could only be made by Peter Karlsson.
"I was up to date on the development of events," he emphasises.
The police, who wish to remain anonymous, felt that the commanding officer's choice to stay in his mountain residence delayed communication.
– Can you have the right situation picture when you sit in Sälen? It felt like a fucking betrayal. When you knew there were such high risks of injury.