A suspected aggravated robbery occurred in Hallsberg, where two people were tied up and assaulted. The suspects were arrested overnight, but both deny the crime. The prosecutor is withholding details about the case.
This modern policing response contrasts with Sweden's historical law enforcement structure. In the past, parish constables in Sweden were called fjärdingsmän, literally 'quartermen', a title introduced in the 16th century. The job of fjärdingsman was a local position of trust in one quarter of a härad, or county district, with each härad also having a supervisor called a kronolänsman, the head of the county chief constable.
In 1850, the fjärdingsman assignment became a government position with special instructions and regulations, ensuring there would be a fjärdingsman in every parish, in the area around a church. The title fjärdingsman existed until 1954, when it was changed to police constable. Recruitment standards for these early officers were specific.
In the mid-19th century, only men who could read and write, were at least 170 centimetres tall, and had honourable behaviour, good health, and a strong constitution could join the police. Preferred police recruits were men with a military background, trained to obey orders, but policemen in the mid-19th century were often young and poor, with just a few weeks' training, and could be sacked for no apparent reason. Before being hired as a regular officer, there was a trial employment with the lowest wage.
Contemporary criminology research explores broader justice issues. The Stockholm Criminology Symposium was held on 13-15 June 2022 at Norra Latin in Stockholm, where Professor Elijah Andersson from Yale University won the 2021 prize and Professor Francis T. Cullen from the University of Cincinnati and Professor Peggy C.
Giordano from Bowling Green State University won the 2022 prize. William Bülow O-Nils from Stockholm University and Uppsala University presented on the moral responsibility for harm caused to children of prisoners, arguing that the circumstances of many children of prisoners run afoul of established principles of social justice. The moral responsibility for children of incarcerated parents is shared among several actors, including the incarcerated parent, remaining caregivers, prison officials, other state officials, and members of the wider community.
Prison officials have the responsibility to uphold prison conditions that allow incarcerated parents to fulfill their responsibilities to their children, while states are responsible for implementing social welfare policies to help caregivers fulfill their responsibilities for the well-being of children of incarcerated parents. Individual members of the wider community have an obligation not to contribute to the stigmatization and marginalization of families of incarcerated individuals, with this research funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), grant nr 2018-01116. Prison conditions during crises were also examined.
Shadd Maruna from Queen's University Belfast presented on surviving the pandemic lockdown in British prisons, a participatory action research study. Beginning in March 2020, prisoners in England and Wales were locked down for 23 hours per day for months to stop the spread of coronavirus. Recent criminal incidents in Sweden display a range of bizarre and violent methods.
A car thief in Sweden threw a chainsaw at a pursuing police car during an hour-and-a-half-long car chase involving ten police vehicles, while a thief called the police for help after getting his foot wedged inside a second-floor window while trying to break into a nightclub. Autumn in Sweden brings an uptick in burglaries as thieves take advantage of the darkness, with the Spanish National Police nabbing a man accused of snatching dozens of religious objects from Swedish churches. A thief in central Sweden locked himself inside an electronics store during an attempted robbery and was arrested, and a robber stole 156 packs of coffee in southern Sweden using an accomplice and a getaway car.
A 17-year-old boy in central Sweden was charged after stealing a cup of money from a woman begging on the street, and a young man stole a car in Tranås with a four-year-old inside, but the joy ride was brief. Tourists in Stockholm have been warned about people dressed as ghosts distracting sightseers while accomplices pick pockets, and footballers in western Sweden left the pitch to chase a thief who stole from them. Four thieves who used internet dating sites to find victims, drugged them with sedatives and psychosis drugs, and robbed them were sentenced to prison by a Swedish court, and a car thief ran into three police cars in central Stockholm, injuring one officer stuck between two vehicles.
A bicycle stolen in Örebro was returned by a regretful thief with an apology note and 100 kronor in compensation, and a 91-year-old in Gävle fought off a would-be thief trying to pry jewellery off her fingers. Historical cases provide context for violent crime. John Filip Nordlund, also known as 'Mälarmördaren', was a Swedish mass murderer, the penultimate person executed in Sweden and the last executed by manual beheading, born on 23 March 1875 in Övre Stubbersbo, near Säter outside Falun.
Nordlund had two siblings: Joel, an older deaf mute brother, and a younger brother named Rickard, and was described as an odd child who never laughed. In 1882, Nordlund's family moved to Falun where he went to school but never finished due to his impatient nature, and in 1886, he took to the road with a classmate, was spotted in Hedemora, and returned home. In 1887, Nordlund was on the run again, working at a lumber mill in Korsnäs for one and a half years, which he said was the only time he tried to live an honest life, but he was fired from the lumber mill for forging a bill.
Nordlund's parents moved to Gävle, and he lived there briefly, before being arrested and sentenced to four months in prison for cattle rustling by a court in Ljusdal in 1891. Later in 1891, Nordlund received a three-year prison sentence for stealing, served at the county jail in Malmö, and in 1895, he received another three-year sentence to be served in Långholmen Prison in Stockholm, where he was prisoner number two. Due to unruly behaviour, Nordlund served four years in Långholmen, and according to his letters in 1900, it was there his plan for the future took shape.
On 20 April 1900, Nordlund was released from Långholmen and went to Gävle with help from his younger brother, but as an ex-convict, he had difficulties getting a job and returned to crime, planning one final big hit. On the night of 16 and 17 May 1900, Nordlund boarded a ferry in Arboga with revolvers, knives, and padlocks, planning to rob and kill people, steal the ship's register, and torch the ship, but the plan failed. In Gävle, recent thefts include an ice cream heist.
Thieves stole Ben & Jerry's ice cream worth 9,000 Swedish krona (roughly $1,380) from a wholesale dealer in Gävle, but their plans went awry when all glass-filled bags were dumped on an 18-year-old man who was arrested by the security guard. The 18-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of theft, and police are looking for cronies. Elderly swindling cases have also emerged.
Two men were arrested in Sweden for allegedly swindling elderly people by posing as their grandchildren, stealing $138,152 in cash and jewelry. The men were arrested in March and held in jail for stealing from elderly people in northern and eastern Sweden, with police saying the men researched their victims before conning them, such as using the grandchild's name. Police believe the suspects conned up to 150 people.
Gävle has seen a series of other criminal incidents. On 28 December 2025, two were arrested on suspicion of robbery after a big fight in Gävle, while on 9 July 2025, a woman was assaulted by a man in Gävle. On 17 December 2024, staff were subjected to a robbery in Gävle, and on 19 January 2024, a boy around 15 years old was robbed in Bomhus, Gävle.
A separate trespassing incident occurred in Gävle. Police were called to an address on Brynäs in Gävle after an informant heard strange sounds from the basement, suspecting an ongoing burglary, and a patrol found a woman in her 50s and a man in his 30s in the basement. Both individuals were taken according to the law on the apprehension of intoxicated persons and suspected of illegal trespassing.
Ongoing investigations leave many questions unanswered, particularly regarding the Hallsberg robbery where the prosecutor is withholding specific details. Similarly, in the Gävle ice cream theft, the number of accomplices and their identities remain unknown, while the exact scope of the elderly swindling operation is still being determined. Motives behind various robberies and thefts reported in Gävle and other areas have not been fully disclosed.
Community and law enforcement responses to these crime patterns involve increased vigilance and targeted operations, with police emphasizing the need for public awareness and cooperation. Key unknowns include what specific details about the Hallsberg robbery case the prosecutor is withholding and the current status of that investigation. The number of accomplices in the Gävle ice cream theft and the exact number of elderly people conned by the two arrested men also remain unclear, as do the motives behind various robberies and thefts across Sweden.