65 people work with prevention in youth environments in the Oslo police unit East.
– It is the country’s largest preventive department, says John Roger Lund, head of unit East, to Dagbladet
Lund’s police area borders geographical operating unit (GDE) Romerike, which embraces Lørenskog, Strømmen, Rasta and Lillestrøm, among others. Areas that can be described as red zones when it comes to crime among young people.
The number of prevention officers in the police at Romerike is 0 (zero)
– The operational preventers have been temporarily redeployed to patrol duty, says Siw-Monica Eriksen, who is the police station commander in Lillestrøm.
The preventive department was closed down in autumn 2023 because the police had to save money.
In 2023, the police in Romerike had 284 cases where people under the age of 18 were reported for drugs, threats or violence.
Increase from the previous year: 50 per cent.
70 of the cases were dismissed because the perpetrator was under 15 years of age.
At the same time, the area has major challenges with violent youth gangs that have deep-seated conflicts that also move out of GDE Romerike and towards Oslo.
Conflict line
The attempted murder of the 18-year-old at Bryn on 15 April is closely linked to conflicts that are ongoing at Romerike, but which have now ended up in the hands of the police in Unit East.
Linked to brutal kidnapping
One or more incidents of violence are said to have been the prelude to the abduction of two minors and a boy in his late teens last autumn.
Investigating criminal network for brutal violence against children
The victims are said to have been taken to an industrial area in Fetsund where they are said to have been subjected to what is described as very serious violence and degrading acts which are also said to have been filmed.
The case has required large police resources, with dozens of suspects, several of whom are minors.
The father of the 18-year-old who was shot at Bryn will be among those charged.
The revenge spiral continued with a machete attack at Milan school in November 2023 and two people who were stabbed in a mass brawl at Strømmen in February this year.
Investigating revenge motives
Then it escalated to the attempted murder of Bryn.
According to Dagbladet’s information, the 18-year-old who was shot and the perpetrator should have met at Lørenskog just days before the attempted murder in the hair salon at Bryn.
Presumed main person behind the shooting: One of the victims in the abduction case at Fetsund.
Free flow
The border between the two police areas in Oslo and in Viken is not respected by the criminal gangs. This is evident from the police’s own figures from GDE Romerike.
The order of the selected municipalities goes from the most to the fewest conditions
- In most U-18 cases that deal with episodes of violence in Romerike, the victims live in Oslo, Lørenskog, Strømmen, Skedsmokorset, Hakadal, Lillestrøm.
- In most of the U18 situations, those reported live in Lillestrøm, Nittedal, Lørenskog and Aurskog-Høland.
- Most of the cases took place in Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Oslo and Aurskog-Høland.S
Dagbladet knows that there is cooperation between the police areas in the specific attempted murder case, but the police’s own rules prevent the free flow of resources in the day-to-day operational work.
“Red areas”
Dagbladet has previously discussed the problem areas on Oslo’s eastern edge.
What many of the cases have in common is that the perpetrators and victims are young. Right down to 13-14 years.
Graphics: Kjell Erik Berg/Dagbladet
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Furthermore, the sources say that the young people do not belong to any particular group of organized crime.
– There are young people who come from poor economic living conditions, young people who do not master school – and young people with diagnoses that have not been investigated, says a source.
The person wishes to remain anonymous because of the work he does in the youth environment and elaborates:
– They have fallen between two chairs.
On Tuesday, Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Enger Mehl, Minister of Labor and Inclusion Tonje Brenna and Oslo’s Police Chief Ida Melbo Øystese will meet the press to talk about investment areas in Oslo and measures to secure vulnerable city areas.
Dagbladet has been sent the report to be presented, with a promise not to mention the content until it is presented by the police chief in Oslo. But we can say something about what is not in the report.
It says nothing about criminal youth gangs that flow freely back and forth across the border between Oslo and Romerike.
