EN OFÖRLÖST POTENTIAL - Föreställningar, förväntningar och förutsättningar i samverkan mellan polis och skola

Abstract

Aims and objectives: Disorder and criminality among youths in primary schools located in deprived areas, have been debated as a problem in Swedish politics and media. Claims about increased police presence in target schools has been raised as a solution. Furthermore several school-police liaison-projects has been implemented during the last fifty years. However, does police presence solve the concerns of the schools? The problem aim was to reveal the experiences and expectations of the police officers as well limitations and expenditures contextualising school-police liaison. Method and data: Eight interviews in total were performed with police officers in Gothenburg, Sweden. Six of those were community police officers and one was the community chief of police, all located in local-police-department of north-eastern Gothenburg. The eighth interviewee was a well-experienced police. The interviews were carried through open-ended questions and varied between one and two hours. Results: This report reveals the importance of embracing the context when discussing how to handle disorder in primary school and the issue of school-police liaison. The material shows several limitations and expenditures regarding police participation, such as shortages of police officers, feelings of insufficiency, the legislation of criminal responsibility age at fifth teen years and stigmatization. The school plays an important role in the socialisation of children and need to be capable of handling disorders without involving the police. However, school-police liaison programs might still be important, in facilitating the contact between schools and the police as well as identifying children in need of extensive support. Yet this should be carried out through liaison-programs such as SSPF.