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CRIME

Master keys to Malmö flats missing

The master-keys to almost 900 apartments in the suburb of Rosengård in Malmö are missing. The keys were stolen in December when unrest in the suburb reached its peak.

Master keys to Malmö flats missing

The locks to the 867 apartments have not however yet been changed, local newspaper Sydsvenskan reports.

“A new lock system has been ordered and will begin to be installed on Monday”, Cecilia Ahlqvist at property management firm Newsec said to the newspaper.

The break in to the company’s offices occurred when unrest in Rosengård was at its most intense in December.

As a result of the rioting neither Newsec staff nor the police were able to gain access to the premises in which the keys were stored in response to a burglar alarm.

The keys were kept in a locked steel cupboard. They have not yet been recovered.

Ahlqvist underlines that no tenant residing in any of the apartments has been subjected to a break-in as a result of the key theft.

Fifteen washing machines and tumble dryers have however gone missing since the incident. The keys also open the doors to the communal laundry rooms.

All residents have been informed about the incident. Many of the apartments are equipped with additional Chubb mortice locks and Newsec has encourage residents to make use of these to lock their front doors.

Witnesses in the Herrgården housing development told the newspaper that police had been informed that groups of youths were seen trying to gain entry to apartments, presumably with the master keys.

This could not be verified however as police declined to check out the lead, the newspaper writes.

The apartments in Herrgården are owned by the Norwegian property firm Acta. The firm has recently been confirmed on a list compiled by property magazine Hem & Hyra as Sweden’s “worst landlord”.

The apartments are managed by Newsec, which in the autumn was the subject criticism when reports emerged of cockroaches and mould in many of the Herrgården apartments.

When the reports emerged Newsec apologized and promised residents that the situation would improve.

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CRIME

IN NUMBERS: Has Sweden’s wave of deadly gang violence peaked?

The number of deadly shootings in Sweden has fallen after hitting a record in 2022, according to the latest annual statistics from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). But violent killings continued to rise and more women and youths were victims.

IN NUMBERS: Has Sweden's wave of deadly gang violence peaked?

How bad was 2023 for violent homicide in general? 

With 121 violent homicides recorded, 2023 was the worst year for murder in Sweden since 2020, when 124 people were killed in violent attacks, continuing a rising trend seen since 2021. The number of violent killings was up 4 percent on 2022, when 116 people were killed. 

It’s worth pointing out, however, that this is still lower than the 129 people who died of “murder, manslaughter or violent attack” in Sweden back in 1989,  when the population was nearly 20 percent lower. 

The graph below shows how the number of violent homicides in Sweden rose sharply in about 2014, after which it has seen a gradual but unsteady increase.  

Homicides in Sweden between 2013 and 2023. Source: Brå
 
What about deadly shootings?
 
When it comes to the gang shootings that have dominated headlines in Sweden in recent years, there were signs of improvement, with 53 people shot dead in 2023, down from a record 63 in 2022.  
 
It’s hardly great news though, as 2023 still witnessed the second highest number of deadly shootings ever recorded in Sweden. 
 
The number of fatal stabbings also increased slightly in 2023 to 41 from 35 in 2022. 

 

Deadly shootings, stabbings and other forms of violent murder between 2013 and 2023. Source: Brå
 
Tragically, in 2023, gang criminals in Sweden increasingly began to target the relatives and loved ones of their rivals and also to use minors in their gang wars, leading to a spike in the number of women and youths killed. 
 
Ten more women and nine more people under the age of 18 died in violent attacks in 2023 than in 2022, pushing the number of female victims to 33 and the number of youth victims to 17. 
 
“This year more minors and women have been homicide victims compared with the year before,” Jan Lundbeck, a statistician at the council said in a press release. “This is partly a result of conflicts in criminal circles which had had deadly consequences in which people under the ae of 18 and even women have been affected.” 

Ten of the 33 women killed were in a relationship with their killer, the same number as in 2022. 

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