Denmark to double penalty for crimes in trouble hotspots

STOCKHOLM: The Danish government said on Monday it was looking to reduce crime in trouble hotspots by doubling the punishment for offences committed there compared with other areas of the country.

Plans to introduce a scale of punishment for crime in so-called "ghetto areas", deprived areas with a high immigrant population, will be unveiled on Thursday by Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen as part of a wider plan of action for such places.

The specific crimes which will command a double punishment have yet to be agreed on but in an interview with the Berlingske Tidende newspaper, Justice Minister Soren Pape Poulsen suggested it could involve "vandalism, theft and threats." "In these areas, it is clear that the sword of justice will fall more heavily" than elsewhere, said the minister, who heads Denmark’s Conservative party. The paper quoted police statistics saying that in 2017, only 63 percent of Danes living in such areas felt safe, compared with 72 percent a year earlier.

By comparison, the nationwide figures stood at 79 percent and 81 percent respectively. Denmark first introduced a list of so-called "ghetto areas" in 2010 highlighting deprived areas with a population of more than 1,000 residents.