Officers in the city of Malmö have struggled to cope with a surge of serious crimes including dozens of attempted murders, beatings, rapes and other offences – and have now been forced to admit: “We cannot do it on our own”.
Malmö police chief Stefan Sinteus called for locals to come forward with testimonies testimonies in a bid to help police catch suspects.
In an open letter, a desperate Mr Sinteus wrote: “I can assure you that the police in Malmö are doing everything we can for suspected perpetrators to be held accountable. But we cannot do it on our own.
“We depend on you, and your witness statements, to solve these violent crimes.
“Therefore I appeal now to you: Help us.”
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Swedish police in Malmö are struggling to cope with a surge in violence.
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Police are currently investigating 11 murders and 80 attempted murders in the city.
The letter comes amid reports that witnesses to the murder of 16-year-old Iraqi boy Ahmed Obaid, who was shot in the city’s Rosengard district January 14, were frightened to come forward after racist threats directed at his former schoolmates were posted under the photo of his dead body.
The school’s headmaster said: “They are scared. They are terrified and are wondering who’s going to be shot next.”
Rosengard has a majority migrant population of more than 80 per cent, and has been labelled the “most notorious refugee ghetto” in Sweden.
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Crimes on the rise include murders, rapes, beatings and fraud.
Less than 40 per cent of the district’s residents have a job – and the social unrest has led to frequent gang and multi-ethnic violence.
Mr Sinteus explicitly mentioned Obaid’s murder and the attempted murder of another teenager in his open letter, and pledged to use any means necessary to push forward both investigations.
Reinforcements from Sweden’s National Operations Department deployed in Malmö last week in an effort to help tackle the “upward spiral of violence” in the city.
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According to the police chief, Malmö police officers are currently investigating 11 murders and 80 attempted murders, as well as “other crimes of violence, beatings, rapes, thefts and frauds”.
This is the city’s second serious surge of violence in the past 12 months – in July last year, national police units were deployed to the city to help stop a spate of bombings, shootings and arson attacks.
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