Stockholm's former regional police chief Mats Löfving was found dead in his home on the evening of February 22.
Earlier that day, the police's special investigator Runar Viksten had at a press conference established that Löfving had been disqualified in several decisions concerning Linda Staaf, with whom he had allegedly had a relationship, and suggested that he should be dismissed.
The police's own investigation of the incidents, which was submitted to the Swedish Work Environment Authority last week, concluded that the public criticism deviated from normal. According to the investigation, this meant that "unfavourable judgments regarding Mats Löfving's qualities as a manager [were] exposed".
Insufficient risk assessment
In its own submission to the authority, the Swedish Police Union now comments on the police's investigation. The submission points to several shortcomings in the police's handling of the personnel case concerning Mats Löfving.
Among other things, it highlights a lack of cooperation with safety representatives to identify work environment risks and take appropriate measures to prevent ill health. Furthermore, it is considered that the police have not made sufficient risk assessments linked to the decision to present the conclusions of the investigation at a press conference.
According to the representatives, the press conference contained "information of such a nature that it was directly offensive personally for Mats Löfving but also for others involved" and was pointed out as the event that "had the greatest significance for the tragic outcome of Mats Löfving's passing".
The call for the national police chief to consider sacking or dismissing Mats Löfving was, according to the representatives, "nothing more than a public humiliation that most likely hit Mats Löfving personally very hard and worsened his state of health dramatically".
Left out
The national chief safety representative Patrik Danielsson says in a press release that the submission together shows "major shortcomings in the work of the Police Authority and in the national police chief's work environment responsibility".
The chief safety officers are critical of the fact that they were not invited to participate in meetings and interviews conducted as part of the police's internal investigation.
"We can therefore not certify that the interviews have actually been conducted," they write in the write-up to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, noting that the authority's collaboration with the safety representatives has been "non-existent".
"The National Police Commissioner must now take clear responsibility for what happened and I expect him to act promptly," said Katharina von Sydow, president of the Swedish Police Federation.