Definitely work to do. If they don't crack down on crime, in a decade or so it could be as bad as the US or Russia. But none of the half dozen or so people I know in Sweden have ever mentioned a problem or not feeling safe.
Malmo has always had a rough reputation in the docks area, but is a lovely place to visit. In the old part of Stockholm you do have to be alert for crims - but it's not as bad as Washington DC, Frankfurt or Paris. Part of the problem, and why white nationalists are able to use statistics to create a perception of crisis to advocate against Muslims and non-whites, is the way Swedes record statistics:
In Sweden we count as many crimes as [the victim] can specify. So we’ve had cases with women who had a diary so they can say, ‘I’ve been raped within this marriage 400 times.’ That will result in 400 reported crimes. That also contributes to the difficulties in our statistics with comparing from month to month, or comparing one area to another, because a single case of that sort will turn the statistics upside down. That’s been a problem when some journalists from other countries go into our database. It could be one case with 50 reported crimes.
Brå University researcher Johanna Olseryd
