Crime and fear of crime in rural areas

Less crime and greater sense of safety

As with previous studies in this area, the analysis shows that, overall, there is less crime in rural areas. This applies to both reported offences and self-reported victimisation. People living in rural municipalities report less fear of crime than those in other types of municipalities. Crime trends follow broadly the same patterns as elsewhere in Sweden.

According to the Swedish Crime Survey, various types of municipalities show no differences in terms of citizens’ experiences with the police, but the survey shows a marginally lower level of confidence in the justice system in rural municipalities. However, several interviewees argue that confidence in the police, as well as in public authorities in general, is lower in certain very sparsely populated rural areas.

Specific challenges for crime prevention

There are certain conditions in rural areas that, directly or indirectly, impact crime and create challenges for crime prevention.

Financial difficulties and skills shortages

Many rural municipalities have declining and ageing populations, which leads to a shrinking tax base and financial difficulties. The low population density and declining populations of rural areas have made it more difficult for businesses providing goods and services in rural areas to operate. As public utilities and infrastructure are gradually dismantled, social trust can be negatively affected, and, with it, confidence in the justice system.

Our interviews reveal that municipalities experience difficulty in securing necessary skills as well as in recruiting and retaining municipal police officers in rural municipalities. Skills shortages in rural areas are largely linked to demographic factors that have contributed to reduced supplies of skilled labour. It is important that municipalities as well as the Police Authority seek ways to recruit and retain staff over a longer period of time.

Crime prevention coordinators in rural municipalities often have many different responsibilities and spend only a small portion of their working hours on crime prevention. Being responsible for many different tasks at once makes it difficult for them to prioritise crime prevention. One way for municipalities to use resources more efficiently is to cooperate with other municipalities, for example by conducting joint surveys and sharing expertise in various areas. It is important that rural municipalities possess sufficient expertise in areas such as licensing, supervision and monitoring.

Few police officers in large geographical areas

Rural municipalities are often large in size, while relatively few police officers work in the local police districts of rural municipalities. Nearly 40 per cent of rural municipalities border either Norway or Finland. This poses particular challenges for crime prevention, as cross-border crime must be addressed.
It can be difficult for police in rural municipalities to remain present and visible, especially outside towns. Visibility is an important factor in retaining high levels of confidence. Mobile police stations, police on night-time standby and police patrols posted outside larger towns are measures that can increase police presence. The Police Authority must in various ways provide police officers who are able to work in rural areas. In this respect, distance and part-time training programmes specifically aimed at recruiting police officers to sparsely populated areas may be one potential way forward.

Sense of community, but also a culture of silence

A majority of the interviewees mentioned the stronger sense of community and social control in rural areas, which brings advantages as well as disadvantages for crime prevention.

Municipal administration features more direct contact and more immediate decision making in rural municipalities. High levels of personal familiarity mean that people are more likely to feel a sense of community and trust and support each other. Knowing whom to contact when you need help is simpler. But this closeness can also lead to a reluctance to interfere in, or act on, matters affecting family, friends or acquaintances.

The culture of silence that exists in some rural areas reduces the propensity to report crimes. This culture of silence may be due to familiarity with the perpetrator, the normalisation of certain types of crime or low levels of confidence in the justice system. The Police Authority and rural municipalities must therefore continue actively working to counteract cultures of silence. This includes strengthening confidence in the police, shattering the myth that certain criminal acts are permitted in rural areas, and ensuring that crime victims receive the necessary help and support to speak up and report crime.

Certain types of crime distinct to rural areas

While the overall crime rate is lower, the challenges described above mean that certain types of crime are in various ways distinct to rural areas. Environmental and hunting offences are two such examples, while agricultural theft is another. Organised crime, as it increasingly spreads beyond big cities, has become a greater challenge for rural municipalities. Another challenge particular to rural municipalities is the vulnerability of the Sami population. Hostility towards Sami is expressed in numerous settings and contexts. Sami members of reindeer-herding families are particularly affected.

It is important that surveys and analyses of crime carried out by rural municipalities focus on local crime problems and local conditions. Brå and the county administrative boards should be able to support municipalities in this work.

Traffic offences

The only overall crime category in which the number of reported offences per capita is higher in rural areas is traffic offences. This is likely due to the greater availability of police in rural areas to work on traffic enforcement. However, residents of rural areas are also more dependent on cars, and many rural municipalities experience high levels of tourism during parts of the year, which increases traffic volumes. A majority of our interviewees also mention that their municipality has or has had problems related to youth and motor vehicles, especially category A tractors.

Thefts

Rural municipalities are more affected by thefts of certain types of vehicles, equipment, diesel and by burglaries of holiday homes. Such thefts are often the work of international criminal networks. These networks are highly mobile and can operate undisturbed over large areas where they can more easily escape detection. These thefts have major consequences for both businesses and private individuals.

Intimate partner violence

According to statistics, intimate partner violence is not more common in rural areas. But the long distances in rural areas can make the consequences more severe and the conditions for preventing crime less favourable. Reporting crimes and seeking help can be difficult when the nearest police station, health centre, social services office or women’s refuge is hours away. Such distances also mean that police response times during an ongoing assault may be lengthy.

Hunting and environmental offences

Hunting is an important part of life in rural areas, but attitudes to hunting and views on hunting offences differ. There may be a reluctance or fear to discuss how hunting is conducted. It can also be difficult to report a hunting offence when everyone knows each other.
Environmental crime, such as illegal waste management, is a category of crime that thrives over large spaces. Many environmental offences are likely to go undetected, and the risk of detection is even lower in rural areas with long distances and sparse populations.

Organised crime

Organised crime has long been seen as a metropolitan problem, but today it is also present in smaller cities, towns and rural municipalities. A majority of interviewees describe how organised crime has become more prominent in their municipalities. Young people are recruited everywhere, including in rural municipalities. With the green transition and the establishment of new industries taking place in many rural municipalities, the risk of being targeted by organised crime is increasing. The interviews reveal that shortcomings in crime prevention in rural municipalities can facilitate the establishment of criminal networks.

Crime linked to animal rights activism

Crime linked to animal rights activism is not specifically a rural problem. The number of police reports related to animal rights activism, after a sharp increase between 2016 and 2019, has decreased to a low level. Such police reports mainly concern unauthorised stickers, posters or graffiti promoting vegan diets, or acts of vandalism targeting hunting stands. Unlawful threats, molestation and trespassing were also reported to the police.

Although the number of offences related to animal rights activism is currently at a low level, municipalities must continue monitoring the potential emergence of violent animal rights activism. The risk of polarisation between animal rights activists on the one hand and hunters and animal keepers on the other, as well as the risk that county administrative board staff are threatened, should receive particular attention.