Police from eastern Europe are helping their Danish colleagues solve crimes in Denmark, reports DR Nyheder.

In one case, a Romanian police officer played a central role helping North Zealand Police track down and arrest of a gang of 30 Serbian and Romanian burglars.

“Having the opportunity to connect with police officers that have experience in countries where the criminals come from has added a huge value to the investigations,” the justice minister, Morten Bødskov (S), wrote in a comment to parliament’s legal committee.

READ MORE: Prisons packed with foreigners

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Bødskov added that Lithuanian officers have helped police in southern Jutland solve a range of cases more quickly.

Dansk Folkeparti wants police forces to make more use of foreign officers to help solve crimes involving foreign nationals.

But Bødskov pointed out that the national police, Rigspolitiet, has recommended that it should be up to individual police forces to decide whether to request the assistance of foreign officers.

Jails full of foreigners
Statistics from this summer suggest that ten percent of criminals currently serving time in Danish jails come from eastern Europe.

The increase in the number of foreign criminals led the opposition last year to propose funding new prisons in eastern European countries so that foreigners serving time in Denmark could be transferred to their home countries.

In June, the Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen) announced that the number of foreign criminals that were deported increased by 35 percent between 2011 and 2012.