– Young people are beaten down, threatened, stabbed, and deal with drugs. That’s what 15-year-old Romeo Serrano from Lillestrøm is experiencing, he tells news. He says that he has seen a lot of violence in Lillestrøm. Kripos chief Kristin Kvigne says that they are unable to keep up with the increase in gang crime. – What worries us is linked to an effect from Sweden and that it could spread to Norway and become more demanding for us, Kvigne tells news. At the same time, the police fear that both children and adults do not dare to speak up, for fear of becoming a “snitch”. Threatened himself, the 15-year-old tells about young people who gather in gangs. He often finds that they wear hoods and large bubble jackets, and that it can therefore be difficult to recognize them. – If I go alone and a group comes, the probability is high that I will be beaten, according to Serrano. Romeo Serrano feels that the snitch culture is strong at the secondary school in Lillestrøm. Here he is being prepared for tonight’s broadcast of the Debate. Photo: Amanda Iversen Orlich / news He says that he himself has been threatened by a group of young people. Once this summer he was waiting for the train at the station in Lillestrøm. – Then four people come up to me, push me against the wall. One of them said, “if you come near here again, I’ll beat you,” according to Serrano. Serrano says that a security guard arrived and broke up the situation. – I thought it was very disgusting, and I was very scared. Large increase in youth violence In just over a year and a half, cases of violence involving young offenders have increased markedly. Figures from the police districts, obtained by Nettavisen, show an increase of 40 per cent in reported cases of violence between the ages of 10 and 17 from January 2022 to August 2023. The graphic is made on the basis of figures from the police districts, reproduced in Nettavisen. Graphics: news According to Nettavisen, it is the 14-year-olds who top the statistics. – We work as well as we can, but we do not have the capacity to accept an increase or to work well preventively to prevent the establishment of communities from Sweden and other parts of Europe, says Kripos chief Kvigne. Sweden has recently been hit by a wave of violence linked to criminal networks. In September, several people were killed, including innocents, in the gang war. – What Romeo addresses happens at street level, but it is connected. Those at the top control the crime that happens on the streets. Cracking down on snitching – Did you speak up and report it? – No, I did not report that. I didn’t want to make it into an issue, says Serrano. He says you feel weak if you report. – You have to be tough at school, so no one dares to say they have been threatened. You don’t want to talk about yourself, you can seem weak. Then the probability is greater that you will be beaten down again, says Serrano. Romeo Serrano says you feel weak if you report an offence. Here he is being prepared for tonight’s broadcast of the Debate. Photo: Amanda Iversen Orlich At the school he attends, there is a culture for those who speak up, or “snitches”, to be frozen out, says Serrano. – I see it at school, that those who snitch, they have to leave. They are not allowed to participate anymore. Familiar with the problem, Serrano is not alone in experiencing that the snitch culture is strong. Rakel Rohde Næss has researched snitching and the culture of silence among young people. – You don’t want to be a snitch. What we see is that this has spread in youth culture. It has become normalized to be silent, says Næss. Line Granås, head of prevention at the police in Lillestrøm, says they are familiar with the problem. – We are familiar with and concerned about the snitch culture which means that children and some adults do not dare to report cases for fear of reprisals, says Granås to news. She says the police depend on people daring to report crime. – We depend on people talking to us and making complaints in order to deal with problems. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue
ttn-69
– You can seem weak – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
