The police reorganisation — weak governance and local presence

What happened

The merger of 21 county police authorities into a single Police Authority in 2015 was followed by strong criticism of internal governance, follow-up and local presence.

Who reviewed

The Swedish Agency for Public Management (Statskontoret) and the Swedish National Audit Office (Riksrevisionen)

Criticism

Statskontoret pointed out that the reform's goals of local presence and more effective operations had not been met, that governance was unclear and that staff confidence had fallen. Riksrevisionen criticised shortcomings in forensic operations.

Outcome

Increased resources for the police from 2019, strengthened local presence (community police officers), new financial governance and a gradually rebuilt forensic capacity.

Agency's own reply

The Police Authority has stated that it has addressed the shortcomings identified through a new governance model, strengthened local police areas and expanded forensic operations, while staff shortages and recruitment remain challenges.

Updated 2026-07-08

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SVERIGEFAKTA. (2026). SVERIGEFAKTA. Retrieved 2026-10-02, from https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/polisen-noa-omorganisation

SVERIGEFAKTA (2026) SVERIGEFAKTA. Available at: https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/polisen-noa-omorganisation (Accessed: 2026-10-02).

SVERIGEFAKTA, "SVERIGEFAKTA", https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/polisen-noa-omorganisation (accessed 2026-10-02).

@misc{sverigefakta_2026_en_agencyoversight_polisennoaomorganisation,
  author       = {SVERIGEFAKTA},
  title        = {SVERIGEFAKTA},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/polisen-noa-omorganisation}},
  note         = {Dataset v2026.2, accessed 2026-10-02}
}

https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/polisen-noa-omorganisation