Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, along with the three other Alliance party leaders, made the announcement in conjunction with a visit to a police station in Hallunda, south of Stockholm.
It comes as no surprise that the police will be receiving additional funding. They have requested an additional 2 billion Swedish kronor for 2010, 19.6 billion ($2.8 billion) compared to 17.6 billion ($2.5 billion) in 2009.
In August, the Swedish National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) also determined that they won’t be able to cover expenditures in the current budget but will run a deficit that is greater than the additional funding the government has already approved.
Bolstering the fight against crime is one of the government’s main priorities and in the wake of budget negotiations between the centre-right coalition parties, the Moderates, among others, have spoken out in favour of allocating additional resources to the police.
It is also likely that the national prosecutors service will benefit from the extra funding, since more police mean more legal errands.
“This relates to the effective functioning of the entire legal system,” an Alliance source told news agency TT.
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