Is escalating gang crime behind the death of an eight-year-old boy in Gothenburg? The Local spoke to criminology professor Jerzy Sarnecki and organized crime expert Amir Rostami for their thoughts.
"We have severe gang problems not only in Gothenburg but also other big cities. It relates to several things: one is organized crime in the area, mostly regarding narcotics. There is also a subculture of violence to do with animosities between different factions and gangs," Sarnecki explained.
"The thing that happened in Gothenburg is part of a cycle of violence," he added.
"There are two groups and they try to hit each other as hard as possible. In the last year there was a shooting in a restaurant and people were killed. One side might not be happy with the sentence from that case, so they look for a kind of revenge, and are careless, throwing something into a house where they know one of the opposing people lives."
Rostami agreed that the grenade incident in Gothenburg has a long-standing history.
"The problem in Gothenburg is relatively old," he said.
"It has been to do with different factions and their conflict. This problem in that specific area was originally to do with a girlfriend or thereabouts, but it has escalated to the degree that the people involved in the conflict don’t even know what it’s about. It’s now simply a gang issue, a gigantic soap that has gone on for quite a long time."
Are innocent people now actively being targeted in these attacks?
Is Sweden's problem with gangs getting worse?
Are police struggling to combat these gangs?
Is there a clear solution to the issue?
Read the rest of the interview here: http://thelocal.se/119259
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