In recent years, society has become more aware of the risk of school shootings and the necessity to prepare for such threats in educational settings. School shootings are rare in Nordic countries, but they do occur. In the aftermath, there are intense discussions about school safety issues and the need for increased securitization. In this academic essay, I present some observations on spatial aspects in school shootings and highlight various novel aspects with respect to school safety and security related to the design of the school environment. Perpetrators of school shootings are driven by an institution-oriented motive, with the school building itself a target or victim in the attack and also an actant in facilitating the attack. The use of security measures in these rare events is seldom effective and often counterproductive, signalling that the school is an unsafe place. Instead, school buildings need to provide an uncomplicated way for students and staff to survive by facilitating a multi-optional response in terms of evacuation and lockdown. As argued here, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), is a potential preventive approach, which thus allows for the multioptional response needed in the case of a school shooting and finds a balance between physical and psychological safety.

This qualitative article explores how simulation and training in tactical emergency care can contribute to police professionals’ ability to provide specialized care to colleagues and civilians in mass casualty events, such as an active shooter situation. Using an ethnographic approach, two simulations of tactical prehospital emergency care were observed and analyzed. The observations took place in Western Sweden during November and December 2023, and each simulation featured different scenarios. The first scenario was a final exercise for medics in the regional task force, while the second involved an exercise with the regional task force, ambulances, an ambulance helicopter, and a Coast Guard helicopter.

Through the analysis, five themes emerged, identified as factors that could both facilitate and hinder the ability to provide tactical emergency care. The results suggest that simulations of tactical emergency care should also include training in communication and cooperation to avoid diffusion of responsibility.

I denna rapport sammanfattar vi projektet Frivilliga insatser med hjälp av appar: Om civilsamhällets nya roll i krissituationer, finansierat av Centrum för Välfärdsstudier(CVS) vid Högskolan i Borås och genomfört under perioden augusti 2023 till juli 2024. I projektet studerades hur civilsamhället kan stötta blåljusorganisationer i kritiska situationer utifrån ett verksamhetsperspektiv, därtill undersökte vi hur digitaliseringen kan bidra till att engagera civilsamhället, med stöd av app-lösningar eller liknande IKT-teknik.

Bakgrunden till projektet var frågan om varför och på vilket sätt samverkan mellan blåljusorganisationer och frivilliga beskrivs som ambivalent och i flera fall varit svår att få till i praktiken. Å ena sidan vet vi att det svenska välfärdsystemet står inför stora utmaningar, en av dessa rör behovet av frivilliga i samverkan med blåljusverksamhet i krissituationer – såsom livräddande insatser vid hjärtstopp, genomföra eftersök eller att delta i släckningsarbete på platser med lång utryckningstid. Å andra sidan kan samverkan med frivilliga leda till ineffektivitet och missförstånd, vilket i värsta fall kan innebära att den aktuella krissituationen förvärras.

Background

This scoping review explores how police and health care use digital and algorithm-based alert systems to flag individuals with mental illness. Eight studies were included, covering both police systems and health care-initiated systems to alert law enforcement.

Result

The findings suggest that digital and algorithm-based alert systems can support decision-making and improve police interactions with individuals experiencing mental health issues. However, in health care settings the systems are motivated by workplace safety concerns and in policing from an efficiency perspective, stressing collaborative crisis response between police and health care services. Additionally, information sharing and collaboration between police and health care services benefit from such technology. However, the use of these systems also raises ethical concerns and risks of potential stigmatization.

Conclusion

The review highlights the importance of balancing efficiency and ethical consideration when implementing digital and algorithm-based alert systems in mental-health related policing. Thereto forthcoming studies need to consider if and how frontline policing will benefit from digital and algorithm-based alert systems.

I det vardagliga samtalet kan teori och praktik ibland upplevas som varandras motsatser - men vi vill påstå att teori och praktik snarare är beroende av varandra. Blåljusorganisationer ingår i dag i ett akademiskt sammanhang och att arbeta inom blåljus ses som en semi-profession, med behov av reflekterande praktiker. I ditt kommande eller nuvarande yrke behöver du därför förhålla dig till och verka inom gränslandet mellan teori och praktik.

Du som läser denna bok har kanske precis börjat en metodkurs, står inför uppgiften att skriva en uppsats eller deltar i ett utvecklingsprojekt på din arbetsplats. I boken får du hjälp och guidning genom de frågor som kan uppstå i ditt arbete. Här presenterar och introducerar vi en översikt av metodval som har förankring i och relevans för blåljusyrken.

Vetenskaplig metod för blåljuspersonal vänder sig till studenter som kommer att jobba inom blåljusorganisationer, eller personer som redan gör det. Tanken är att hjälpa och guida dig igenom olika typer av frågor som kan uppstå när du ska närma dig, förstå och genomföra en vetenskaplig studie.

This study aims to describe secure institutional youth care homes in Sweden in terms of the conditions of their spatial environment (i.e. physical design and objects) and the individual characteristics of the youths placed there. Data were collected through a survey and from the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. The study population consisted of 18 units and 1,859 youths in secure institutions in Sweden from 2006 to the end of 2016. The results showed that 74.1% of the youths were enrolled under acute circumstances. They often present with physical and mental health problems, such as sleep disturbance and lack of impulse control; the young people are placed in a restricted environment with little possibility to maintain a sense of security. Due to their previous traumatic experiences, this can be problematic in terms of care and treatment. The results show a tension between different aspects of control, highlighting the importance of offering care environments that both offer the staff “control functions” (i.e. functions facilitating observation and control over the environment) and offer the youths “control opportunities.” Such environments need to be as homelike as possible, while simultaneously maintaining safe care for young people and a safe working environment for staff.

In the current study credit card frauds are analysed. Concepts are taken from crime pattern theory and place-based criminology. The empirical material originates from the urban nightlife of Gothenburg, Sweden, and combines quantitative and qualitative data from different sources. Instead of focusing on the individual’s specific motives for committing crimes, the study has its interest in how place can play a part in fraud events and be a necessary condition in the crime modus operandi. In the conducted analysis, we can clearly see that place matters in the crime series studied, and that the place was not randomly chosen by the offenders.