The short version
- The Labor Party’s Tonje Brenna and Hadia Tajik want to restore safety on Norwegian streets by fighting gang crime.
- Key points include tougher penalties, confiscation of gang assets, more police officers and better cooperation between the police and other actors.
- They will follow Denmark’s example by abolishing the duty of confidentiality between public agencies to improve the sharing of information about young people in the risk zone.
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– We are going to bring safety back to the streets, proclaims To announce or declare something publicly.the duo.
– We see an unacceptable development where we read almost daily about shootings and gang-related episodes, especially in the capital, but also elsewhere. It has almost become more the rule than the exception to read about it every day. We shouldn’t have it this way. We are going to break the backs of the gangs and gang development now, while we are still in a relatively early phase, says Ap’s justice policy spokesperson in the Storting, Hadia Tajik, after an increasing number of gang-related cases of violence in recent months.
She adds:
– People should be able to feel safe, both for themselves and their children, no matter where they are.
Labor deputy leader Brenna leads the program committee work in Labor which will set out a political course for the party before next year’s national meeting.
– In that work, we have received a number of proposals, including these 13 points, she says and shows us a list.
Here are some key points she says they will prioritize:
- The gangs’ use of weapons must have harsher consequences (in Denmark they have doubled the sentence), and stricter penalties must be introduced for gang violence.
- Take the gangs’ money, watches, cars and jewelery (new law on civil forfeiture) to stifle the gangs’ finances and prevent recruitment with money and gifts.
- Employ more people in the police.
- More police contacts in vulnerable areas.
- Track young criminals 24 hours a day with an activation team. Any person working with a child should also have access to the same databases to see concerns in light of each other, earlier. It will also make it easier to collaborate between the police and other actors such as schools, child protection, outdoor contacts and Nav.
Here is the rest of the list
FOLLOW-UP: Follow-up of young people who have served their sentence from the first day with residence, contact point, activation offer and other support.
Moving assistance: Exit programs to get out of gangs and offer families of the most active youth criminals to move to another place in the country if they wish.
FAST TRACK 1: National Fast Track in the Young Offenders Court.
FOOT CHAIN: More use of electronic ankle chains pending or as part of the execution of a sentence.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: Better cooperation with other Nordic and European countries.
SPECIAL POLICE: Several dedicated police officers with special expertise in uncovering financial crime.
FAST TRACK 2: Fast track deportation of convicted gang criminals.
JOB OFFER: More summer jobs and part-time jobs for young people under municipal authority in the cities.
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We meet Brenna and Tajik at Karl Johan.
– As the crime scene changes, so must the policy. We have to find new means and new ways to overcome and prevent crime, says Brenna.
Answers to key questions in this case
What is gang crime?Gang crime refers to illegal and often violent activities carried out by an organized group or gang. This can include drug dealing, violence, theft, and other criminal acts. The gangs may have a structured organization and often recruit young members.
Tonje Brenna is a politician from the Labor Party (Ap), where she is deputy leader under party leader Jonas Gahr Støre and leads the program committee work in the party. Hadia Tajik is also from the Labor Party and acts as the party’s justice policy spokesperson in the Storting. She is a former Ap deputy leader and minister in the Støre government.
An exit program is a measure designed to help members of gangs break out of the lifestyle and reintegrate into society. This can include help to find housing, work, and access to education or other activities that can contribute to a stable and law-abiding existence.
Abolishing the duty of confidentiality between public agencies such as schools, healthcare and the police is controversial because it can affect the privacy of the individuals concerned.
It is a challenge to completely stop gang crime, but the proposed measures could potentially reduce the scale and severity of such activities. Success depends on effective implementation, sufficient resources, and cooperation between different sectors of society.
This article was created using AI tools from OpenAI, and quality assured by VG’s journalists.
Clocks
She says that youth culture has changed radically.
– It is not just in Oslo that this happens. I live in Jessheim and the youth culture there has changed a lot in a fairly short time.
They will seize watches, cars and jewellery, which criminals often display.
– It is important to confiscate proceeds of crime, as such objects are.
– You warn that there will be a completely new “law about civil forfeitureA legal process where the state seizes assets without going through a criminal case.»?
– We are working on it now. We will go after what is the oil in the machinery of the gangs. The threshold for confiscating valuables that they have acquired is too high. We want it down, says Hadia Tajik.
– The Conservative Party already proposed that in 2018?
– It was not realized.
– The experiences from Sweden do not exactly indicate that you will succeed?
– They didn’t take it seriously early enough, says Tajik.
– Exactly, Brenna continues:
– Crime has gained a foothold there, we have not yet reached that point in Norway. The Swedes have only dealt with that challenge when the problem has taken root and gained a foothold. We go in earlier.
Promise more police officers
– One of the points is increased penalty limits, or doubling as you refer to in Denmark. Do you want to double the penalties for gang violence and the gangs’ use of weapons?
– We will discuss that, but it is something we are open to. In Denmark, they have shown the way; they have increased the penalties, increased resources and prioritized more police. We will do that too.
– More police is one of their demands. It requires almost everyone. How many?
– We see that we need to do more to keep the population safe and break the criminal gangs. Then it is obvious that the police must be prioritized. More police officers must be employed, says Brenna.
We go to Karl Johan where a police car accompanies the daily Ukraine marking. Three police officers in the car.
They want more police contacts in “vulnerable areas”. It’s not in the middle of Oslo, but in the middle of Oslo.
VG recently wrote that the Oslo police district is launching a new neighborhood police unit on 1 May, with 38 positions, which will be based in Greenland in the center of Oslo.
They are happy about it.
– We need more local police also in the big cities. It is important that the same police units are present over time and are close to where it is to be prevented and where it is to be sanctioned, says Brenna.
Will cancel the obligation of confidentiality
They will revolutionize the flow of information.
– We must catch the young people before they are recruited into crime. Schools, health services, police, culture – everyone who works with children and young people must be able to share information to catch young people early on who sniff out criminal environments, says Brenna.
Tajik follows up:
– In Denmark they have abolished it the duty of confidentialityA legal obligation to keep information secret and not share it with others. between these public agencies, for children and young people who are on their way into a bad environment.
They are very aware that it is controversial.
– An important premise is that information in that collaboration cannot be used in a criminal case. Then the various agencies do not need to be concerned that the information they share could cause problems for the young people in question, says Tajik.
– We are in a situation where pension costs and rearming of the defense and money for Ukraine will mean that other areas will receive less: Is this going to cost?
– The most expensive thing we do is not getting rid of crime, says Brenna.
– Are you going to break the gangs?
Both nod.
– Yes, we will.
– I think some will ask themselves whether this is credible and realistic?
– A society that does not aim to overcome gang crime is a society that can disintegrate. And there are young people – who both commit the crime and who are exposed to it. As a society, we cannot accept that, says Brenna.
– Some countries, like Germany and Spain, legalize part of the products from which criminal gangs derive their income streams; like cannabis. Is there a way to go?
– I do not believe that you will overcome the problem if you do something that is criminally legal.
