Iceland shivers with violence worthy of its noir novels

Iceland’s reputation as “the world’s most peaceful country” has been tarnished recently by a wave of violent crime involving criminal groups.

Only 375,000 people live in Iceland, but they are more used to reading about murder in Icelandic noir books than in the country’s daily media.

Helgi Gunnlaugsson, an Icelandic sociologist, remarked that “a gun for Icelanders symbolises sports” or hunting.

“Using a weapon to defend oneself or to point at someone is really strange to the Icelandic thinking,” he told AFP.

As a result of its low crime rate, robust education and welfare systems, equitable pay, and absence of class friction, Iceland has led the Global Peace Index rating since 2008.

There have been only four fatal shootings in the last two decades.

There have been four shootings in the last year, and one of them was fatal.

Gunned down by a shower of gunfire in a Reykjavik neighbourhood in the early hours of February 20, 2021, a murder that rocked the country.

Police believe the death was connected to organised crime.

There are more organised criminal gangs in Iceland than there were before, criminologist Margret Valdimarsdottir noted.

Because of their connections to other countries and organisations, the authorities may have a difficult time tracking them down.

Two drug-related shootings occurred in Reykjavik within two days of each other in February.

The level of gang violence here is comparable to what has been observed in other parts of Europe.

It takes five to ten years for what is popular in Europe to reach Iceland, according to Runolfur Thorhallsson, the head of Iceland’s elite police force, the Viking Squad.

Indeed, we are concerned about this.

Iceland is one of the few countries in the world where police officers are not required to carry firearms while on duty.

However, following the brutal 2011 assaults in Norway by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik, police cars have been outfitted with handguns in special safes since late 2015.

In addition to bulletproof vests and ballistic shields, only a tiny number of police officers — the Viking Squad — are equipped with semi-automatic weapons on a permanent basis.

Since 2014, there has been a six-fold increase in the number of weapons-related events reported to the police.

Indicators suggest that criminals may be more willing to utilise guns.” “Knives are on the rise more than firearms,” Thorhallsson added, according to the New York Times.

The interior ministry is considering providing police with tasers, despite the lack of a reason for the surge in violence.

According to Police Union head Fjolnir Saemundsson, more recruitment and training are needed.

As of 2021, Iceland has one of Europe’s smallest police forces, second only to Finland, and approximately half the European average, according to Eurostat.

Safe country: Studlar, a government-run treatment centre for juveniles aged 12 to 18, helps troublesome youths with a wide range of concerns, from drug abuse and crime to behavioural challenges and mental health issues.

The number of knives seized by the centre, according to director Funi Sigurdsson, has also increased slightly.

For some of the children, it was obvious from the time they were six years old that they would wind up at this facility.

“We could have saved them from this scenario if we had interfered more effectively at the time.”

As children, several of the gang members involved in the score-settling passed through the centre.

There has been an increase in violent crime, but experts say it isn’t a cause for fear.

According to Valdimarsdottir, it’s vital to keep in mind that Iceland still has an incredibly low crime rate.

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