Precrime arrests soaring in Denmark

Since preventative arrests became legal in 2014, police have been taking advantage of the policy

The number of ‘preventative arrests’ – taking suspects into custody before they commit a crime, which has been permitted since 2004 – has soared in the last three years.

Police often use ‘administrative detention’ at big events like the climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009, where more than 2,000 demonstrators were held in custody on the street.

However, in the last three years, there haven’t been any major events, and yet the numbers are rising, according to a review conducted by the think-tank Justitia based on figures from the national police department Rigspolitiet.

With liberty and justice for … some
In 2014, some 2,383 people were preventatively detained. The numbers for 2015 have not been tallied up yet, but the upward trend looks set to continue.

“The trend in the numbers and court cases in which demonstrators or others have been preventatively detained suggest that the police’s interpretation of the law does not place enough emphasis on civil liberties, including the freedom of expression and assembly,” Justisia head Jacob Mchangama told Berlingske.

Søren Pind, the justice minister, said that he “has confidence that the police are applying the rules correctly”.

 

TOP STORIES

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs