Crime prevention in Sweden

Since 2017, Brå has had a long-term commission to produce an annual report on crime prevention work in Sweden. The purpose of this series of reports is to provide a broad picture of how crime prevention work has developed locally, regionally and nationally in recent years in relation to the objectives described in Sweden’s national crime prevention programme, Combating Crime Together (Tillsammans mot brott, government communication 2016/2017). Just like the crime prevention programme, the reports are focused on efforts that are primarily intended to prevent crimes and criminality. These can include, for example, social measures for people at risk of turning or returning to crime, or situational measures to make crime less profitable or riskier.

This year’s report has an emphasis on the work of organisations involved in crime prevention in relation to the proposed legislation presented in the government inquiry Municipalities Against Crime (Kommuner mot brott, SOU 2021:49). If the municipalities are to fulfil the intentions of the law, many organisations within the field, and at all levels of society, will most likely need to develop their crime prevention work.