This British Bobby will in this case represent police officers in general, in Great Britain, Sweden and other countries. Every civilisation has had its laws and guardians of safety. The word “police” is derived from the Greek “polis” which means “city”, and also words such as politics, policy, and politician is derived from that, and all are meant to create some order in the city states originally. I believe that we need our police forces to be able to combat crime. Still there are so many changes that have to be made in order to create improvements in society. On January 4th a 26-year old man who had been robbing a gold boutiqe in Södertälje was shot in the head by an officer from the Södertälje police force. The robber died in hospital yesterday, and “the Police Authority in Stockholm County regrets his disease and feel deep respect for the grief of the dead man’s relatives”. A situation like this is of course a dilemma. In my eyes the police had to and should intervene. The 26-year old man was armed with an automatic rifle replica and the situation was hostile. Of course the killing has led to an investigation, and the Swedish Crown Prosecution Service has recieved the case on their desk. A man is dead, and that is one man too many. Still, what should the police have done? They’re supposed to arrest criminals, and armed robbery is a serious felony. In a sharp situation like that what we have done ourselves, I wonder? As I’ve said before in my texts I loath organised crime, gangster romanticism and similar, but I also know that some of those who’re drawn into that sphere do that for various reasons. Some youngsters are drawn into a criminal lifestyle because they feel that they’re already doomed and judged beforehand because of their social upbringing, their ethnic or religious upbringing and the temptation to get quick and “easy” money. In a society that pays no or little attention to, or show respect for the common citizens, when the unemployment rate is rising and the competition is hardening, the anger and frustration will sooner or later get to the surface in forms of rebellion, demonstrations, destruction and crime in different ways. Now, those who have psychopathic or sadistic personalities in all social classes tend to thrive in situations of violence, and some seek to create mischief, havoc and violent eruption just for fun, and destroy the foundation for a law-abiding and well functioning democratic society. Others again are drawn into it by pure misfortune, unvoluntarily and have no wish to end up in crime.
For this reason it’s of the essence to work in different ways to prevent it. We might do it by educating the police force more and more in social issues and intercultural work, by recruiting more people of both sexes to different positions within the judiciary system, by learning to respect people of different background and see the underlying factors behind violent eruptions and different forms of crime. We, the common citizens, also ought to be more inclined to support the police in order to create a safer society. If we’re treated like outcasts, problems, criminals, prostitutes etc. it’s a much greater risk that we finally will end up like that as a negative prophecy. That’s why it’s utterly important that we try to help each other in a good way, find constructive ways to prevent negative outbursts, that police officers become more attentive to people’s difficult situation, but also the other way round. Not to blame the police who’re just trying to do a decent job for our common good.
People need jobs, jobs, jobs, in good ways and to be treated with decency by potential employers. People need to live decent, and depending on our various economic situation it’s vital that flats and houses are built to suit different wallets. If the housing becomes too expensive many people will risk their income and become a burden for the society. For this reason flats to rent with not too high rent and cheaper houses ought to be built to stimulate our infrastructure. A greener thinking to use busses, trains, bikes more than the cars to spare our environment already exists and is thriving, but it needs even more support to improve our potentiality today and for our future.
Encouragement of education and entrepreneurship are also of the essence and the acceptance of different skills. You can read further in my text Work, work, work that I wrote on this blog. What kind of ideas do you have? What are your feelings on these matters?
Anders Moberg, January 10th 2013
swedish heart and soul 