Sweden's youth crime wave will take a decade to stop, senior minister says – POLITICO

It would take at least a decade to ensure that children growing up in Sweden today do not become criminals. “That is a very realistic view of the time perspective,” said Strömmer.

Gang crime and migration have become sensitive issues in Sweden and are helping the extreme right to gain electoral success.

Much of the bloodshed is carried out by internationally connected gangs that recruit children into their ranks. Last September, after a 25-year-old woman was killed in a bomb attack, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson vowed in a rare televised address that they would “hunt down the gangs.”

Earlier this year, the Swedish parliament authorized police to set up so-called security zones, allowing them to conduct searches in certain areas without a warrant or reasonable suspicion. Strömmer said the government would also toughen penalties for juvenile offenders.

“There is a constant danger that a spiral of new violence is simmering beneath the surface,” he said.