The Director of Public Prosecution's assessment of the application of the gang provision is quite positive. There have been references to the doubling of penalties in case law. For example, from mid-2018 to the end of 2021, a total of 89 persons received a final harsher punishment in accordance with section 81a of the Criminal Code. It has been challenging to obtain evidence on that all elements of the provision have been met.
Penalties for systematic extortion were made harsher as a follow-up measure to the third gang package. According to the police, this is unlikely to have affected the extent of extortion in criminal circles. Some cases are not reported because protection money has been paid or there is fear of retaliation. According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, only a few cases have progressed to prosecution.
Penalties for threatening a witness in gang environments were aggravated in 2018, but the police still consider threats to be a problem. Reports are not made, and statements in legal proceedings are withdrawn or amended. Harsher penalties are unlikely to increase the willingness to testify and do not protect witnesses from threats. Prison sentences for threatening of witnesses have been extended.
Initiatives concerning weapons
The penalties for serious firearms offenses have been significantly aggravated since the first gang package. According to the police, people with affiliations to criminal groups rarely carry firearms in public places, unless in question of, for example, a gang conflict or a planned attack. Weapons are kept hidden, for example, in a person’s home. Prison sentences for serious firearms offenses have become longer. The prosecutor estimates that stricter legislation concerning firearms is reflected in legal practice. Possession and use of knives have become more common.
Section 81b of the Criminal Code applies to crimes committed in a public place using a firearm, other weapon or explosives. The provision has not been applied much due to the wide application of the gang crime provision.
The working group that considers the safety of the private storage of weapons has recommended clearer conditions for the storage of weapons, an information campaign and increased fines for violations. The information campaign and other recommendations of the working group have been implemented. The police cannot assess the impacts of the measures on the availability of weapons in criminal circles. The voluntary weapon return campaign has reduced the total number of illegal weapons, but criminals have their own channels for acquiring weapons. Since 2018, members of firearms associations have been required to give permission to leave firearms in the association’s possession. The police processes good reputation applications concerning members of shooting clubs. In the first less than three years, approximately 1% of the total of 15,000 applications were rejected.
5.2 Intervening in gang meetings
Initiatives concerning gang premises
According to the police, banning gangs' assembly rooms or staying in them is a useful tool in the prevention of gang conflicts. The terms and conditions for imposing temporary residence bans have been eased and the sanctions for breaching the ban have been aggravated. The police’s possibility of imposing a temporary residence ban on gang premises has been justified by the risk being caused to the immediate surroundings. According to the police, the bans can now be applied to smaller conflicts than before, in which case, for example only one party has committed violent acts. The purpose of closing the premises is to send a serious message to both the criminal group and the local residents about intervening in criminal activities.
Under the legislation on banning assembly, a municipality may close a gang's assembly room if significant harm is caused to the immediate surroundings. Municipalities have little experience in applying this legislation. According to some municipalities, a guide on the application of the law would be necessary. The police welcome the fact that municipalities have a lower threshold to close gangs' assembly rooms.
The above-mentioned bans are estimated to make it more difficult to organize gang meetings during conflicts and to attack another criminal group. They can also help in making the surrounding area calmer, as conflicts typically are not moved elsewhere. Closing the assembly rooms may increase the risk of gang conflicts in public places. Other criminal groups than motorcycle gangs usually do not have permanent assembly rooms, so they are less affected by these restrictions.
Area and residence bans
Since the first gang package, the police have been able to impose an area ban that prevents a person who behaves particularly threateningly from moving or staying in a designated area. The prohibition is intended, among other things, for so-called gang guards who guard the gangs’ territory in the residential area. In the second gang package, the radius of area bans was extended from 500 meters to 1,000 meters and penalties for violating these bans were aggravated.
The police do not have much information to assess the impact of area bans. Some police units have used this method to prevent gang crime and behavior that threatens public security. The extended area ban has only been applied in individual cases. The long processing times at courts pose a challenge in cases of the ban being breached.
The residence ban, which entered into force in 2017, prevents a person sentenced for gang crimes to imprisonment or other deprivation of liberty from staying in a certain area. Violation of this ban is punishable. Approximately one half of the police units have applied this residence ban. According to the police, it is an effective way to keep a person away from their usual environment. The residence ban has sometimes resulted in the gang becoming weaker, but some gangs have moved outside the area subject to the ban. According to the authorities’ assessment, it would be justifiable to apply the residence ban to knife crimes as well, as they have become more common as a result of stricter provisions related to firearms.
According to the prosecutor, there are challenges in providing evidence for gang crimes because the courts can assess the time of the perpetrator’s gang affiliation differently. Courts prefer not to impose residence bans for the entire municipality, but rather for a smaller area.
5.3 Perspectives on crime prevention and investigation
Forms of preventive work
Local gang councils have been established in police units in relevant areas. They bring different parties together to discuss, on a regular basis, key safety challenges and how to counter them. Today, all police units have cooperation forums that also deal with gang crime. According to the police, cross-administrative cooperation is effective in preventing crime, and cooperation with municipalities in particular is important.
Local crime prevention measures have been targeted especially at children and young people who are at risk of being influenced by gangs. Special attention has been paid to identifying risks. The police consider discussions of concerns with young people belonging to the risk group to be a well-functioning practice. The National Police College offers training in the implementation of discussions.
Under certain conditions, the police may, in order to prevent crimes, share confidential information about persons over the age of 18 with their parents or relatives. According to the police, this has been a useful tool in cross-administrative cooperation against gangs. Some police units have used this opportunity.
The police have hired civilian employees for preventive work, especially in vulnerable areas. These employees build relationships with young people belonging to the risk group and support cooperation with local actors, such as schools, municipalities and residents. According to the police, this operating model has improved cooperation with municipalities. Civilians have brought new perspectives to both cooperation and activities with young people.
Examples of cooperation in the fight against criminal economy
The gang packages include initiatives, one aim of which is to control the misuse of public services and benefits. These include, for example, the National Gang Council (Banderådet) and the so-called Al Capone cooperation.
The National Gang Council commits several ministries and authorities operating at different levels to the work to counter gang crime. It serves as a strategic forum for coordination and dialog. Matters related to the criminal economy are included in the Council’s scope of tasks. The National Gang Council is satisfied with its activities, which have promoted the exchange of information and discussion on current cross-administrative challenges.
In the Al Capone cooperation, multidisciplinary working groups investigate suspected misuse of public funds by gang criminals and track the proceeds of crime. The police, tax authorities and many municipalities find this cooperation useful. According to the authorities, the behavior of criminals has changed, and misuse of benefits is reported less frequently.
According to the authorities, gang criminals are increasingly interested in financial gain. They have connections to business operations and take advantage of easy opportunities to set up companies and open bank accounts. They also utilize the services of professionals in various fields in their criminal activities.
In 2019–2020, the Al Capone cooperation processed matters concerning a total of more than 1,600 people. According to the assessment, the police and the tax authorities recommend expansion of the operating model. More authorities should be involved in the activities, and their content-related target scope should also be extended to economic crime beyond the misuse of benefits.
Investigation tools
In gang crime proceedings, hearings before the main proceedings have been accelerated. This prevents witnesses from altering their accounts due to violence, threats or pressure. According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the application of this provision has been rare.
The possibilities for phone tapping in the case of certain serious crimes was expanded in connection with the first gang package. The right to phone tapping is targeted at the individual in question and is not limited to one telephone subscription only. According to the prosecutor, this has had a positive impact on the investigation of narcotics offenses and serious offenses involving weapons. Phone tapping has become more flexible, simpler and more effective. The police see this as being useful more widely, for example, in economic crime investigations.
Private persons can be paid for their tip-offs to police. In connection with the second gang package, the amount of rewards for tip-offs was significantly increased. The payment of the rewards was centralized with the police, which has harmonized the practices. Higher rewards increased the number of tips and useful tips in an operating environment that is difficult to assess.
The police have hired more experts to process digital traces. This has strengthened the knowledge and analysis-based approach to criminal investigation and improved the quality of investigation plans and investigation support. Regional police units have assessed this development positively. For example, tele data, encrypted data and open sources have been utilized in the investigation of gang crimes. Sometimes this information has resulted in harsher penalties than usual.
The new technology pool has enabled the police to acquire new technology for use in surveillance, crime prevention and crime investigation. The National Special Crime Unit is responsible for allocating funding to the activities. The technologies are used nationwide. According to the police, the technology pool has promoted prosecution of gang crimes, the police’s knowledge of new technology and the police units’ mutual support in technology matters.
5.4 Prisoners’ conditions for leave and exit from crime
Initiatives concerning imprisonment and release
Gang members, who can pose special risks, are placed in specially protected wards in prisons and pretrial detention. The Prison and Probation Service estimates that this has improved the general order in prisons and the safety of prisoners and personnel. The number of gang conflicts has decreased, particularly in small units. There is no information about the effects of transferring a prisoner, who behaves in a very negative manner, on gang conflicts.
Leading gang members are prevented from serving their prison sentence with other gang members. Disciplinary measures for very negative behavior have been tightened. According to the Prison and Probation Service, these measures have weakened the hierarchies of gangs in prisons. With the growing number of members of different gangs in prisons, it is becoming increasingly difficult and resource-intensive to isolate gang members from each other.
The conditions for gang members' release on parole and release from prison have been significantly tightened. Release on parole is not possible if the police assess that the prisoner is affiliated with a group that is involved in an active gang conflict. Further influential factors include participation in the exit program, criminal history and behavior during imprisonment. Staying with other gang members in prison is restricted.
According to the Prison and Probation Service, these tighter measures have achieved the desired results. The police estimate that they have reduced the number of gang conflicts and encouraged exiting from crime. However, after imprisonment, there is a risk of returning to the former criminal environment.
The stricter conditions for leave have been aimed at limiting prisoners’ contacts with gangs, visits to gangs’ regular meeting places, participation in various events and other encounters. According to the Prison and Probation Service, these methods are effective, but their monitoring is difficult.
The tracking of prisoners with a GPS ankle monitor was piloted in 2014–2015, and it produced information on the movements of prisoners. Monitoring was limited to those participating in the exit program, those released on parole and certain other prisoners. The conditions for monitoring were revised and a more extensive pilot was carried out at the end of the 2010s. According to the Prison and Probation Service, GPS tracking is a suitable monitoring method, but it is very resource-intensive. Limited data made the assessment difficult.
Prisoners with contacts to persons involved in active violent gang conflicts are not allowed to receive visitors from such gangs. In prisons, the visits of leading gang members can be monitored, correspondence read, and phone conversations listened to. According to the Prison and Probation Service, these methods have made gang members' communication more difficult and made it harder for them to coordinate their activities.
Strengthening exit efforts
Gang packages have included numerous initiatives for exiting from crime. An exit contact point has been established in the National Police. It cooperates with municipalities, police units and the Prison and Probation Service, providing advice and support in exit measures. These measures have strengthened the coordination and systematic nature of the authorities’ activities.
One practical measure has been to allocate funding to specific exit measures, such as relocation, removal of gang tattoos and psychological support. According to the police, these special measures are an important part of the exit process. Some measures could also be extended to the person’s relatives, who play an essential role in the person’s separation from the criminal gang.
The target group of the exit programs has been expanded in the second gang package from the original so that they also apply to persons more loosely affiliated with gang environments. According to the police, it has therefore been possible to intervene proactively before gang affiliations become too firm.
The possibilities for special address protection have been extended to persons who experience threats due to gang affiliations and participation in the exit program. Special address protection was added to the police’s guidelines and it has been used in exit measures. The City of Copenhagen estimates that address protection does work in the early stages of the exit, but it may have a negative impact on practical matters (e.g. insurance matters).
5.5 Other initiatives
As a result of the first gang package, the possibilities to deport foreign citizens who have committed serious crimes were expanded. A separate working group proposed guidelines on the preconditions for and expansion of deportation and sharing of best practices. The police have used deportation at the borders fairly rarely and referred people met inland to the immigration authorities. Deficiencies in statistics make assessment difficult.
To improve the efficiency of the collection of fines, a special pilot operation has been carried out between the police and the tax authorities. The aim of this has been to alleviate the avoidance of fines and to increase awareness of the possibility of property being seized to cover debts. Gang members may be in debt to public communities but still own valuables. After the experiment, the operation was expanded to cover the entire country and the collection of the suspect’s funds to cover debts was made more efficient. According to the police, the new methods have been utilized to some extent.
Witness protection was developed as part of the 2017 gang initiatives. According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, some police units have experience of conducting interrogations in other ways than on-site or denying arrival for a hearing. Courts have prohibited individuals or groups from participating in hearings if that has been necessary to obtain truthful statements.
Witnesses and persons involved in the exit program have been protected with assault alarms. Their use varies from police unit to police unit, but they are most often given to those participating in exit programs. However, the basis for use is not systematically recorded in statistics. According to the police, assault alarms have had a positive impact on the relationship between their carriers and the police.
The gang initiatives of 2017 included a measure to terminate the Loyal to Familia criminal group. At the prosecutor’s proposal, the Ministry of Justice decided to bring the matter before the court. The matter proceeded to the Supreme Court and the group’s activities were prohibited. The police estimate that as a result of the ban, the group’s activities are less visible locally and in the public domain. Gang symbols are not displayed, international contacts are more difficult and recruiting new members is more challenging. However, it is hard to assess the impact of the ban on the criminality of group members.
5.6 Key findings
According to the information presented above, the key measures of the Danish gang packages support the work of the police and other law enforcement authorities in many respects. The most important observations based on the authorities’ self-assessment of promising measures, at least to some extent, can be summarized as follows:
Penalties and measures related to weapons
The gang provision on doubling penalties has proven to be a key tool for the police in combating gang crime and making criminal environments calmer.
The imposition of harsher penalties for serious firearms offenses has made it less common to carry firearms in public spaces, but the use of knives has increased.
Intervening in gang meetings
Restrictions on gang assembly facilities are effective in preventing gang conflicts, but do not have an effect on gangs that do not have permanent facilities.
Area and residence bans seem to keep gang members away from their usual environment, but the police have little information about the effects of these bans.
Improving criminal processes
Rapid hearings in legal proceedings, higher rewards for tip-offs, strengthened digital analysis and a technology pool have improved the preconditions for detection and investigation of gang crimes.
Remote interrogations, assault alarms and bans on arrival for hearing have protected witnesses to crimes.