41 days.
It took 41 days between the new law allowing Swedish police to set up visitation zones before the first one popped up.
In Hageby, a poor part of the town of Norrköping (which is described on Swedish wikipedia as one of the most "immigrant-dense" parts of the municipality), police may now stop and search any person or vehicle, regardless of circumstances. Frida Braf, the local police chief, told Swedish state broadcaster SVT that they will "consider several factors, e.g. police intelligence information, time of day, behaviour and whom the individual is associating with". My translation from here.
The visitation zone will be in place for 2 weeks, the maximum allowance in the new law.
I can't say I'm surprised. By the timing, the background, the history of the place.
This doesn't make Sweden into an authoritarian police state.
But like. When should I worry? How many bricks are in a wall?
Me, I'm lily white and as Swedish as a Maypole. I've never felt like a stranger here. But I've heard the stories my Kurdish and Bosnian friends can tell. I have family who work for the police. They seem okay. But how can I tell from up here on Mt. "Ethnically Swedish"?
Here's hoping I'm making a mountain of a molehill. Hoping the slope is actually quite dry, thank you. But we have issues with race in Sweden, and this isn't the first time I've felt like this.
