The ‘Lingonberry Police’ and the Privatization of Public Order : A Quantitative Analysis of Sweden’s Use of Private Guards in Public Spaces

Sammanfattning

This thesis evaluates the effects of the Swedish ordningsvakt system with regards to its contribution to public safety. Building on a body of critical research regarding the effects of outsourcing of public services and police forces in particular, it develops an insight into the driving factors and underlying causes of the expanding use of ordningsvakter. The effects of ordningsvakt use in 17 Swedish municipalities on violent crime, theft, and vandal-ism have been measured through a multivariate regression model. Over multiple specifications, it became apparent that a statistically significant effect can be observed for vandalism but not other types of crime.The thesis finds that ordningsvakter in public spaces provide at most a very modest contribution to public order and fail to achieve the core objective of reducing violent altercations. This may be either due to a general inade-quacy of the system, or due to displacement effects caused by the deployment of guards. The resulting policy recommendation is an exploration of alternative ways to enable public order and safety measures on the municipal level, particularly a reintroduction of municipal police forces.