“We must never give up hope” • Diamant Salihu and Jale Poljarevius to meet 2,000 students to discuss the path towards a safer Uppsala

One Sunday in July, yet another young person is shot dead in Uppsala. Local media report that he had recently graduated from high school, was a talented football player with UNIK and was looking forward to studying architecture. The following morning, a minor is arrested on probable cause on suspicion of murder – once again reopening wounds in a city that has perhaps been hit harder than any other city by Sweden’s gang violence.

“I know what it is like to grow up in a city where young people are murdered in the streets. During my childhood in Borlänge's Tjärna Ängar, it involved only a few people, but it affected me enormously. I remember the fear and discomfort. What it feels like to pass the place in the city centre where someone has been killed. And that is precisely why we must keep talking about it. Violence must never become normalised,” says Diamant Salihu, a journalist and author who has spent several years investigating gang crime in Sweden.

During the 2020s, criminal networks have become more organised, crimes more serious and perpetrators increasingly younger. Along the way, several unimaginable acts of violence have been committed in Uppsala, and today almost every young person in the city has a story to tell. Everyone knows someone who knows someone, and it leaves its mark. In a survey conducted at Kunskap För Livet 2025, 67 per cent of high school students said they wanted to see more adults and police officers in public spaces. “I always call my parents when I walk home alone in the dark,” says one teenager.

“Of course, young people are affected by growing up with this as part of their everyday lives. A large part of their reality is also shaped online, where they are exposed to enormous amounts of information. Criminal gangs exploit this by using the same platforms to recruit members and young people to carry out serious crimes. That is why meeting places such as Kunskap För Livet are an important opportunity for us to raise young people’s awareness of the risks online and provide a truthful and positive alternative to the gangs’ false promises of status and brotherhood,” says Jale Poljarevius, Police Commissioner and Regional Intelligence Chief.

In his book Tills alla dör, Diamant Salihu explores the environments in which violence takes root. We encounter a culture in which everyone guards their social capital. Where, in order not to show weakness, you must reclaim your honour if someone takes something from you. Where constant demands for revenge create a spiral of rapidly escalating violence. In his widely discussed 2025 report En gång bröder, Salihu turns his attention to Uppsala, where the murder of a gang leader’s family member overturns all previous rules and is followed by an unprecedented wave of violence.

“The fact that several gang leaders are now abroad or detained does not mean the conflict is over. When balances of power are disrupted, vacuums can emerge and trigger new conflicts. Nevertheless, I am convinced that positive change is within reach. But for that to happen, crimes must be solved, which is an important signal both to those affected and to the perpetrators. Authorities and civil society also need to act together on all fronts, not least through early interventions. Otherwise, there is a significant risk that the situation will deteriorate very quickly,” says Diamant Salihu.

In Uppsala, the police and municipality are working together with the aim of cutting off gangs’ resources and recruitment. The work is based on an agreement with shared priorities and zero tolerance for crime. Statistics confirm several steps in the right direction. Last autumn, the police reported that the number of Uppsala residents with links to criminal gangs was declining. According to the Swedish magazine Kvartal, the number of shootings in the city is falling dramatically. And following a series of strategic initiatives, Gottsunda was finally removed from the list of Sweden’s particularly vulnerable areas.

“We are working to mobilise the positive forces in society and to be ready with coordinated interventions as soon as we identify risk behaviours. Children and adolescents who show signs that something is wrong must immediately receive support from the municipality, school and police. At the other end of the risk spectrum, we must work together to support members who want to leave the gang environment. And what I want to convey to all students at Kunskap För Livet 2026 is to be aware of situations they may find themselves in, but above all, never, ever give up hope. There is no doubt that we will succeed in our efforts to make Uppsala safer,” says Jale Poljarevius.

Watch the film Kunskap För Livet 2025

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt a o