After consistent fieldwork at the Norwegian-Swedish border, Bengt Andersen has summarized his analysis in an extensive report, entitled “Nordisk integrasjon: Grensekryssende kriminalitet vevd sammen med gatekriminalitet” (Nordic Integration: Interweaving border criminality with street criminality”. The report, which is publicly available here, focuses on the publicly debated issue of border-crossing criminality and combines the analysis of the public debate with interviews and observation.
This report aims to provide an updated situational overview and examines the issue in light of existing research. As part of our ongoing research project, Andersen observed indications that Norwegian street criminals are connected to “cross-border” criminal environments. There appear to be few obstacles for known Swedish criminals wishing to cross the border. As a result, criminals with a higher capacity for violence are becoming more visible in Norway’s street scene. Additionally, there seem to be increasing connections between Norwegian and foreign criminal networks.