– Hey, Gunnar is the man here!
One of the inmates is overjoyed when Gunnar Strömmer and his entourage enter the national reception at Kumlaanstalten. The young man and some other prisoners are standing behind a glass door, frantically waving for the Minister of Justice to come closer. Gunnar Strömmer has time to wave back before one of the correctional officers pulls the curtain.
The inmates come here to the national reception for assessment before they are placed in an institution, either at Kumla or elsewhere. And the pressure is harder than ever before. The number of prisoners is growing at a record pace. According to the Probation Service’s own forecasts, as many as 35,000 people could be locked up in ten years. There are just as many who live in the Prime Minister’s home municipality of Strängnäs and should be compared with today’s roughly 6,000 inmates.
Already now it is full in the country’s prisons and detention centers. The correctional service is therefore facing a massive expansion. New institutions are to be built, more convicts are to be monitored electronically and the government is also investigating renting prison places abroad.
The prisoners also have to get used to sharing a cell to accommodate everyone. Later this year, Kumlaanstalten will have 765 inmates and the vast majority of places will be double occupied. It is the new normal, states the prison management.
– We haven’t started double-coating the insulation yet, but the idea has struck us. We are already using all the premises and there is no air, says Linda Fridholm, security manager at Kumla.
The background to the expansion is that more and more people are sentenced to prison and that the sentences are getting longer. It is a development that will be reinforced in the coming years. But according to the Director General of Correctional Services, Martin Holmgren, the situation is difficult to assess.
– We have an enormous shortage of places and this could be an effect of all the reforms in the Tidö Agreement taken together. But even though we have done our best, the numbers are uncertain, he says.
The Correctional Service assesses that it will not be possible to obtain as many prison places as are required until 2033. The authority’s calculation is that it is possible to achieve a total of 27,000 places, including remand places, in the next ten years. The Director General has pointed to the possibility of postponing certain changes so that the authority can catch up.
– It is very fast in the legislative pace today. We have requested that it be possible to look at whether certain legislation can come into force later so that we will have better conditions to complete the task, says Martin Holmgren.
Image 1 of 3 Double occupancy is about to become the new normal in prisons. The prisoners share rooms and sleep in bunk beds. Photo: Magnus Hallgren Image 2 of 3 Photo: Magnus Hallgren Image 3 of 3 Photo: Magnus Hallgren
At the Kumlaanstalten hurry we advanced through the culverts on our way to the prison workshops. There, the inmates manufacture, among other things, furniture, curtains and other furnishings for the country’s institutions. We stop at a group of prisoners who have been told in advance that there will be visitors and then took the chance to bargain for each one’s vienna bread to promise to keep calm. Probation inspector Mikael Schyrman is satisfied with the negotiation and points contentedly to a frame for a bunk bed that is beginning to be completed.
– That is a big seller right now, he says.
Employment is becoming an increasingly important part as prisons become more crowded. At Kumlaanstalten, the management is not primarily concerned about the prisoners having to share a cell. It is in the common areas that the conflicts arise and with so many inmates in such a small area, the risks increase. Recently, violence between prisoners has increased, as have threats to staff, according to the Prison Service.
Kumla head Jacques Mwepu warns that overcrowding in the prisons could lead to greater tensions between the inmates. Photo: Magnus Hallgren
Head of the institution Jacques Mwepu describes how a small lounge can simultaneously house a bunch of people watching TV at full volume while a few others work out and play loud hard rock, and still others try to get a bite to eat. Then it doesn’t take much for a fight to break out, and the management fears that the crowding could lead to a tougher environment.
– It’s not yet like in Latin America where gangs own the departments. We are not there now but we can end up there if we are not on our guard, says Jacques Mwepu.
The most important tasks of the correctional service are to enforce sentences – and to reduce recidivism. Joachim Danielsson, department chairman for ST within the Correctional Service, is convinced that increased crowding can lead to deterioration in recidivism work.
– It is hugely important that those who start serving a sentence in prison receive interventions to avoid ending up in addiction and crime again. The risk with concentration is that those who serve their first sentence for a minor crime are sucked into a criminal environment, says Joachim Danielsson.
Employment is becoming an increasingly important part of the country’s prisons to keep the level of conflict down. Photo: Magnus Hallgren
Christer Hallqvist, chairman in Seko Correctional Service, sees a risk that a future Swedish correctional service is only about locking up criminals.
– We are simply moving towards storage. We have been a forerunner in Sweden when it comes to correctional services. Now it feels like we are about to become like the United States. It’s good that we lock them up, but sooner or later they’ll be out in society and then it’s good if they make more sense than when they came in, he says.
For Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer, the increased pressure on the Correctional Service is a natural and in many ways desirable development.
– It can be stated that in the future more people will be in prison and will be in prison for a longer period of time. It is a confirmation that our policy also has the intended effect, because this is the intended effect, says Gunnar Strömmer.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (M) sees the overcrowding in the country’s prisons as confirmation that the government’s policy is having the intended effect. Photo: Magnus Hallgren
He emphasizes that it the large influx of prisoners will require new thinking and reconsideration of working methods. It is certainly not possible to say with certainty that the Probation Service’s forecasts will be fulfilled, but they still give a clear picture of the direction of travel.
– Now we have to deal with this situation. It is a demanding task, but I believe it is possible to cope. There will be more prisons, but it actually reflects a great success in our society. Namely, that the police and prosecutors can clear up crimes and provide victims with redress.
What does it say about a society that we need to lock up so many?
– The situation of the correctional service, of course, reflects a situation in our society that we do not want. We want it to be safe, to be secure, to be free. We want a low level of crime. and we are not there today. This is an unavoidable part of restoring that freedom and security.
Is there an alternative to locking this many?
– There are always alternatives. One is not to lock in but I think that is a bad option.
Facts. Forecast and plans
● The Correctional Service has looked at the Tidö parties’ reforms and reform proposals and tried to estimate what this means in terms of the number of clients in 2033.
● According to the authority’s latest forecast, as many as 35,000 people could be in prison by 2033, while 4,500 people are in custody.
● The Correctional Service plans to expand to approximately 27,000 prison and detention places by 2033, from approximately 9,000. This is what the agency has the capacity to achieve.
● In a prison, the actual need for space is slightly lower than the number of clients, because not everyone occupies a space all the time, due to, for example, evasion and leave.
Source: Correctional Service
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