Crime prevention cooperation in Sweden: a regional case study

Abstract

In crime prevention, local cooperation and networks have recently become central organizing principles and concepts, especially in Nordic countries such as Sweden. This article explores cooperation in Swedish crime prevention by examining a local example, the regional network Regbrå. Regbrå aims to increase knowledge about crime prevention through cooperation and to support local crime prevention efforts by the municipalities in Östergötland County. Regbrå has promoted many universal (primary), selective (secondary), and indicated (tertiary) crime prevention mechanisms. The Regbrå case also merits attention because of its strong links with a local university and higher education. Some shortcomings and problems also emerge in the analysis, such as the possibility that cooperation becomes an end to itself, detached from verified crime reduction effects. The analysis draws on a study of the Regbrå network, including interviews with qualitative experts (N = 10) and a survey sent to involved municipalities (N = 13).