Denmark’s gangs ’get 10-year-olds to help’ with errands and transport
Children as young as 10 years old have been used by organised crime gangs in Denmark to help them with their activities, according to police.
Senior officer René Raffo of East Jutland Police said in an interview with newspaper Jyllands-Posten that gangs have used children of a shockingly low age to help them run tasks.
“We see children as young as 10. That doesn’t mean [the children] are doing hard gang crime, but we can see they are being used by some of the people we have in the gang registry,” he said.
The officer declined to say how many children were thought to be involved but said that their involvement is now being observed more frequently than in previous years.
Raffo’s comments are based on observations made by patrolling officers in the western part of Aarhus, he said.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said he was aware of the matter.
“I can say that police in different parts of the country are under the impression that children of a young school age are being dragged into a huge blood-related, organised or gang crime,” he said to Jyllands-Posten.
A criminologist and police researcher from Lund University, David Sausdal, confirmed in comments to the newspaper that gangs use children to run simple errands in both Denmark and Sweden.
But it is not certain that this is an increasing trend, according to the researcher, who therefore called for better data on the area.
Comments
See Also
Senior officer René Raffo of East Jutland Police said in an interview with newspaper Jyllands-Posten that gangs have used children of a shockingly low age to help them run tasks.
“We see children as young as 10. That doesn’t mean [the children] are doing hard gang crime, but we can see they are being used by some of the people we have in the gang registry,” he said.
The officer declined to say how many children were thought to be involved but said that their involvement is now being observed more frequently than in previous years.
Raffo’s comments are based on observations made by patrolling officers in the western part of Aarhus, he said.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said he was aware of the matter.
“I can say that police in different parts of the country are under the impression that children of a young school age are being dragged into a huge blood-related, organised or gang crime,” he said to Jyllands-Posten.
A criminologist and police researcher from Lund University, David Sausdal, confirmed in comments to the newspaper that gangs use children to run simple errands in both Denmark and Sweden.
But it is not certain that this is an increasing trend, according to the researcher, who therefore called for better data on the area.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.