Sweden's Vulnerability: How Gangs Exploit Legal Loopholes

High school boys are committing murders while politicians await feedback on legislative proposals. This is not a victory for democracy, but for the gangs.

On a Friday in January 2023, a young boy fired an automatic weapon at an apartment door in southern Stockholm. A video of the incident quickly spread on social media.

When prosecutor Lisa dos Santos, leading the investigation, realized the suspected shooter was only 14 years old, she was taken aback.

Until then, it was very unusual for such young individuals to commit serious crimes. At the Flemingsberg prosecutor's office, serious crimes and youth crimes are handled in different departments.

But within just a few weeks in the winter of 2023, that distinction became outdated. Suddenly, it became more common than not for shooters in gang wars to be in high school.

This creates significant problems for the justice system. For example, the police do not have the right to wiretap the suspected shooter or even track his mobile phone. According to the law, children under 15 cannot be subjected to such secret coercive measures.

In her newly released book 'Gängens hus', Lisa dos Santos describes how quickly gang crime is changing. Just a few years ago, 30-year-old gang members themselves donned bulletproof vests and carried out serious acts against their rivals. Plans were often made in encrypted apps, like Encrochat.

Nowadays, gang leaders orchestrate violence from their hideouts in Turkey, Iran, and Mexico. Contracts for murders and bombings are openly posted on Snapchat. It's a kind of morbid gig economy where young shooters are treated as disposable goods.

The justice system struggles to keep up with the rapid changes. Unfortunately, they fall behind. Gangs move at the speed of light, crime fighters at the speed of law, as a policeman puts it in the book.

Take, for example, the issue of secret coercive measures.

Only in October this year will it become legal to wiretap even children. Nearly three years have passed since prosecutors first raised alarms about high school boys committing murders. This is unacceptable.

While child soldiers have become commonplace in Sweden, the police have been without one of their most important tools for solving murder cases. Last year, an unbelievable 120 children, aged 14 or younger, were suspects in Swedish murder investigations.

It's no wonder the police have struggled against the wave of violence.

As often, the perspective was both ahistorical and provincial.

The pattern repeats in other areas. Criminals find loopholes much faster than lawmakers can address them. When the government tightens requirements on residential care homes, criminals instead start family homes, where control is still more lax.

It's a cat-and-mouse game where the justice system inevitably falls behind. Gangs have found Sweden's weak point.

One might have thought this would spark a critical debate about why society reacts so desperately slowly to system-threatening crime.

But when SVT's Agenda covered the topic a few weeks ago, the angle was instead reversed. It was due to the government's modest attempts to speed up investigations that Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer was put on the spot. They were essentially portrayed as a threat to democracy.

As often, the perspective was both ahistorical and provincial.

The segment did not mention that it now takes longer to enact laws compared to the 1980s. Nor were viewers informed that it is significantly faster in the rest of the Nordic countries.

"In Denmark and Finland, there is no investigative body at all. The government prepares its proposals, and legislation often takes months – not years," writes lawyer Adam Danieli at Timbro.

There, authorities and organizations also have less time to review legislative proposals. In Denmark and Norway, the consultation period is rarely more than a month. In Finland, six weeks. In Sweden, however, it is three months – regardless of the size of the investigation.

We should learn from our neighboring countries. In a time when gang crime is mutating ever faster, the justice system must be able to keep up.

When children murder and politicians wait for feedback, it is not democracy that is saved – it is the gangs that are rewarded.

Patrik Kronqvist is the political editor and head of Expressen's editorial page. Read more of his texts here.