“The modern prison service in Sweden is very different from when I joined as a young prison officer in 1978,” says Kenneth Gustafsson, governor of Kumla Prison, Sweden’s most secure jail. “When I joined, prisoners were treated well – maybe too well. But, after high profile escapes in 2004, we had to make the prisons more secure.” In Sweden, prison sentences are not usually for more than ten years. Sweden was the first country in Europe to introduce the electronic tagging of criminals and it continues to keep prison sentences short when possible by using community-based punishments. These have stopped many criminals from reoffending.
What caused prisons to reevaluate their security in 2004?
Multiple escapes from prisons The arrest of many high-profile prisoners Gustafsson’s complaint that prisoners were treated too well A request from the Swedish government