Record funding for police to boost stability in Sweden: PM

The Swedish government will allocate an additional 900 million U.S. dollars for the police agency over the next three years, marking the biggest funding increase since the last century, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported Sunday.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Interior Minister Morgan Johansson made the announcement Sunday.

Gang-related shootings, too few police in rural areas increase insecurity, which is why police need additional resources, according to the government.

The added appropriation comes in the heels of three fatal shootings this weekend alone, SVT reported.

"This creates a terribly insecure environment for the people living in those neighbourhoods. That is not acceptable. We must address the problem thoroughly. Many criminal investigations are shut down and in some parts of the country one wonders whether police even have a chance to reach the people who call them in time," Lofven said in a press conference held during his annual summer speech in Eskilstuna, west of Stockholm.

The funding boost is more than the police asked for, Justice and Interior Minister Morgan Johansson, said.

"With these funds it will be possible to hire more people, provide more training but also keep the personnel that exists," Johansson said.

The Swedish Police Union welcomed the additional funds.

"Finally, a real and absolutely necessary increase. We have long been waiting for the government to understand that the police lack resources," Lena Nitz, chairperson of the union said in a statement published on the union's website. "Allocating 37 million more US dollars than the agency has asked for is a clear economic incentive to raise police salaries."