Police in southern Sweden have called for a ban on civilians wearing bulletproof vests, which they say do not have a place outside war zones because they cause fear in communities.
Increasing numbers of children and young people, including those under 15, are wearing protective vests in towns and cities, they said, as gang crime continues to pull in the younger generation in Sweden.
Supporters of body armour say they help protect wearers from injury. But Patrik Andersson, intelligence chief for police in the southern Skåne county, which includes the city of Malmö, has called for sales of the vests to private citizens to be banned.
“Who needs bulletproof vests? Security guards and police officers need to for their job. We don’t believe criminals need to wear them,” he said, adding: “It’s been spreading throughout Sweden.”
Bulletproof vests do not belong in Swedish society, he believes. “They don’t belong in any state unless in a war situation.”
He said the wearing of bulletproof vests had led to more shootings directed at the head instead. “What we could see down here when they started using the vests, when they were going to kill somebody, they aimed at the head instead,” he added.
He said vests, which can cost up to 10,000 kroner (£758) new, had also become a status symbol used to signify association with a gang, encouraging citizens to fear one another. He added their use had spread from big cities, such as Malmö, to elsewhere in the country and called for police to be given powers to confiscate them.
But amid ongoing gang violence – in January and February alone there were 30 confirmed shootings in Sweden, including four people who were killed and eight injured – there is no consensus on protective vests.
Mattias Forssten, police chief of Sörmland county, west of Stockholm, told broadcaster SVT that there are “more urgent measures” needed at the moment to tackle gun violence than implementing a ban on protective vests.
Gang violence remains at the forefront of national debate with growing concern over the young age of children being caught up in it, and there are problems with gang-linked domestic explosions.
On Monday night, there were two explosions in Stockholm within hours. The first, in Lidingö, damaged a house and injured two people. The second, in Farsta, injured five.
Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, signed an agreement with France’s minister of the interior, Gérald Darmanin, in Brussels on Monday in which they agreed to increase cooperation on organised crime.
Previous cooperation between the two countries – including on communications via encrypted messaging service EncroChat – has led to “hundreds of arrests”.
“The new agreement will strengthen our joint ability to prevent, detect and investigate serious crime, such as drug smuggling and arms trafficking, through increased information exchange and increased cooperation,” said Strömmer.
The department of justice and the Swedish police have been approached for comment.
