STOCKHOLM, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish government plans to invest an additional 78 million U.S. dollars in its police force this year in a bid to get tougher on crime, Swedish Television reported on Friday.
Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said the decision to boost police resources was prompted by increased gun violence in the country.
"The number of shootings has gone up in a way that we cannot accept. That is why we are investing an extra 700 million krona this year already. We are doing this to show that the state is stronger than the criminal gangs," she told Swedish Television.
The finance minister indicated that even more money would be earmarked for police if needed.
"Sweden needs a strong police force. In my job, I see how boys are lured in to a life of criminality that ruins their lives," Education Minister Gustav Fridolin told Swedish Television.
The extra money is on top of the additional 221 million U.S. dollars the government has already put towards the police leading up to 2020. Opposition parties' have called for even bolder investments in the police in the coming years.
"The police can hire more people. They can hire more civilians so that those who are trained officers can do what they are trained to do -- be out on the streets and in the town squares," Andersson said.
