page_title: Swedish Police Authority
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Swedish Police Authority / History
caption_attribution_description: Nils Henrik Aschan Liljensparre (1738-1814)
context_page_description: The Swedish Police Authority is the central administrative authority for the police in Sweden, responsible for law enforcement, general social order and public safety within the country.
  The agency is headed by the National Police Commissioner, who is appointed by the Government and has the sole responsibility for all activities of the police. Although formally organised under the Ministry of Justice, the Swedish police is—similar to other authorities in Sweden—essentially autonomous, in accordance with the constitution. The agency is governed by general policy instruments and is subject to a number of sanctions and oversight functions, to ensure that the exercise of public authority is in compliance with regulations. Police officers typically wear a dark-blue uniform consisting of combat style trousers with a police duty belt, a polo shirt or a long sleeve button shirt, and a side-cap embellished with a metal cap badge. The standard equipment includes a handgun, pepper spray and an extendable baton.
context_section_description: The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-1800s. Prior to that, police work was not carried out by a law enforcement agency in the modern sense. In rural areas, the King’s bailiffs (fogde) were responsible for law and order until the establishment of counties in the 1630s. In the cities, local governments were responsible for law and order, by way of a royal decree issued by Magnus III in the 13th century. The cities financed and organized various watchmen who patrolled the streets. In the late 1500s in Stockholm the patrol duties were in large part taken over by a special corps of salaried city guards. The city guard was organized, uniformed and armed like a military unit and were responsible for interventions against various crimes and the arrest of suspected criminals. These guards were assisted by the military, fire patrolmen, and a civilian unit that did not wear a uniform, but instead wore a small badge around the neck. The civilian unit monitored compliance with city ordinances relating to e.g. sanitation issues, traffic and taxes. In 1776, Gustav III ushered in a fundamental change in how police work was organized in Stockholm, modelled after how law enforcement was organized in Paris at the time. The office of Police Commissioner (polismästare) was created, with the first title holder being Nils Henric Liljensparre, who was given command of the civilian unit responsible for law and order in the city, now partly financed by the State. The reform was considered a success, as it made the streets safer. However, the system of fire patrolmen and the city guard was still kept intact and administered separately.
  In the mid-1800s, during a time of widespread social unrest, it became increasingly clear that law enforcement did not function properly. In 1848, the March Unrest broke out on the streets of Stockholm, inspired by a wave of revolutions in Europe. Large crowds vandalized the city, shouting slogans of reform and calling for the abolition of monarchy. King Oscar I responded with military force, resulting in 30 people being killed. 
  In rural areas, local county administrators (länsman) were in charge of law and order, reporting to county governors. The office of länsman was a mixture of police chief, tax official and lower-level prosecutor, who in turn was assisted by a number of part-time police officers (fjärdingsmän). Increasingly, their time was spent on tax matters, instead of doing actual police work. More police officers were duly employed, some dubbed "extra police", devoted much more exclusively to police work. In 1850, a new type of organization was finally launched in Stockholm, where the entire police force was placed under one agency. The title of Police Constable (poliskonstapel) was used for the first time in Sweden, and the police were also given their own uniforms and were armed with batons and sabers. The police also began to specialize. In 1853, for example, four constables were put in charge of criminal investigations, thus creating the first detective bureau in Sweden.
  In the early 1900s, the Swedish police had yet to uniformly organize or become regulated in legislation. The system of "extra police" did not work well, partly because it was often a temporary position lacking job security, making it difficult to recruit and retain skilled personnel. Subsequently, the Riksdag adopted the first Police Act in 1925. The act essentially codified structures already in place, but also introduced a more unified police and better working conditions for the police officers. Officers began wearing the same dark-blue uniforms nationwide, with the same weapons and helmets. Local ties remained strong, however, with 554 small districts that had great freedom to organize police work as before, even though the State now had the power to issue a number of regulations about everything from leadership to the duties of the police. There were still some problems maintaining order when larger crowds gathered, as evidenced by the Ådalen shootings in 1931, where the military was called in as re
caption: Nils Henric Liljensparre, Stockholm Police Commissioner, 1776
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