“It doesn’t surprise me much as officers have been pretty good at issuing on-the-spot fines,” said station officer Johan Johansson to The Local on Monday.
And new figures from Swedish news agency Siren show that police in Halland issued 7.1 fines per 10,000 inhabitants over the first half of 2011.
According to the local police there hasn’t been any particular measures to prevent public urination in the county, but there has been a larger police presence around bars and clubs at night.
“This kind of behaviour is often related to those activities. We have a few places in the county that has a vibrant bar and club scene,” said Tommy Nyman of the information department to Siren.
According to Johansson it could also be a question of officers having had enough.
“I think it is just a question of officers deciding to crack down on a certain behaviour,“ Johansson told The Local.
Police in Uppsala was almost as active in fining the miscreants with 5.6 fines per 10,000 inhabitants. Värmland County came in third with 5.5.
The figures also show that taking a leak in public is less risky in the county of Dalarna and Kronoberg where only 1.4 fines per 10,000 inhabitants were issued.
In 2010 4,876 fines were issued for public peeing. During the first six months of 2011 the police caught 2,580 public urinators.
According to Johan Johansson, it is mostly men who are fined for the offense.
“I certainly have no experience of any women being fined for public urination, but of course I could be wrong,” Johansson told The Local.
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