“Where young people gather, others with different agendas are always nearby”
Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Almost one in five Swedish municipalities told a Dagens Nyheter survey that gang-related problems had occurred at or near sports facilities.
- Haninge has reported attempted recruitment of children and drug stashes, but has increased adult presence and cooperation rather than restricting access.
- Kalmar has taken a tougher approach after threatening situations and drug stashes led it to close some public areas at its sports center.
“Where children and young people are, there are always other people with different agendas.” Anen Makboul, Haninge’s crime-prevention coordinator, sees that tension every day around the football fields at Torvalla sports center.
Where children and young people are, there are always other people with different agendas.
Sports grounds remain places where young people train and spend time. But in recent years, they have also become settings for gang-related crime. Almost one in five Swedish municipalities told a Dagens Nyheter survey that they had experienced gang-related problems at or near their sports facilities.
In Haninge, outside Stockholm, authorities have encountered attempts to recruit children and young people, as well as drug “stashes” in public areas. Makboul said recruitment can begin with friendliness, invitations, food and small tasks that do not appear criminal but may lead in that direction. Older youths known to be active in crime may appear where many younger people gather.
Their way of recruiting is to be very friendly, invite people in, offer them food, and give younger people small tasks that may not clearly be criminal but lead to it.
Haninge has responded by increasing adult presence, directing municipal security guards to focus on sports grounds, improving cooperation between departments and offering training to sports associations. Officials also maintain contact with police. When stashes are found outdoors, vegetation is cut back and lighting is improved.
The best memories people have from their own childhood are from sports grounds and schoolyards, and we want to preserve that. Young people themselves are not the problem; they must be able to spend time here.
The municipality has chosen not to restrict access. Security coordinator Hanna Bloom said young people themselves are not the problem and should be able to gather there. Makboul said Haninge wants to make its open sports grounds safer rather than close them, although the article notes that Kalmar has restricted public areas after threatening incidents and drug stashes.
We do not want to shut them down, as we know other municipalities have done, but instead actively work to make our open sports grounds safe.
About this summary
Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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