Moderaterna Proposes New Municipal Safety Guards to Boost Local Security
Moderaterna proposes municipal safety guards with enhanced powers and training to improve local security and tackle dissatisfaction with police presence.
- • Moderaterna proposes new municipal safety guards with extended authority and training.
- • Safety guards will operate throughout municipalities, not limited areas, and be better equipped.
- • They can detain and transport individuals including intoxicated persons and minors from care homes.
- • The initiative addresses dissatisfaction with local police presence without creating municipal police forces.
Key details
At their recent party conference, Moderaterna unveiled a proposal to introduce a new class of municipal safety guards aimed at increasing local safety and addressing dissatisfaction with current police presence. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer highlighted this initiative as a middle ground between existing orderlies and police officers, designed to enhance public order without municipalities hiring their own police forces as previously suggested.
The proposed municipal safety guards would differ significantly from current security personnel by operating throughout entire municipalities rather than limited areas. They would undergo extended training and be equipped with standard law enforcement gear such as batons, handcuffs, and pepper spray. The possibility of carrying electric guns and firearms is also under consideration, subject to police assessments.
Their expanded authority includes the ability to detain and transport individuals, with specific responsibilities toward those who are intoxicated, wanted by authorities, or minors who have absconded from care homes. These guards would also escort youths found in unsafe environments and are required to report welfare concerns, thus enhancing community safety and oversight.
This proposal follows longstanding concerns within Moderaterna about inadequate local police presence, which had led to calls for municipalities to employ their own police officers. The new safety guard role offers a public safety function with increased capabilities relative to existing private security roles but stops short of granting full police powers.
With crime and public safety central to the upcoming elections, Moderaterna’s initiative aims to provide a practical and politically supported solution to local security challenges without the complexities of devolution of policing powers to municipalities. Justice Minister Strömmer is optimistic that the party conference will back this proposal, reflecting wide voter dissatisfaction and a pressing demand for more effective local crime prevention tools.