"Gang crime has taken hold on society"

We need to rethink our perception of social crises. That was the main message of the JU LIVE lecture on sustainable preparedness with Joakim Netz, Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering at Jönköping University (JU).

“Gang crime has taken hold in the society and is probably our most persistent social crisis,” he says.

The JU LIVE lecture series on current research at JU for the public is back. This was the second of four sessions this spring. When Joakim Netz talked about societal crises, he was not referring to those that last for days or weeks, but those that continue for decades and eventually become part of people's everyday lives.

“It is important to deal with shorter social crises as well, but that is done by the emergency services and other institutions. What we need to understand are the long-term social crises, such as gang crime, which has been going on since the 2010s and which we see no end to,” says Joakim Netz.

Welfare crimes continue

He emphasizes that the police have reduced violence and shootings among criminal gangs, but that their economic crimes and welfare crimes continue. He believes that the police must go further and work with other actors to put a stop to these types of crimes as well. Joakim also highlighted good examples of sustainable preparedness, highlighting the Smålandstenar company Trioworld, as he often does. He believes that more companies should follow their example and become emergency preparedness suppliers to municipalities or the state.

"They are taking social responsibility."

"It's a profitable business for Trioworld, even if it's not their main business. I think that says something about their management. They take social responsibility, which creates ripples and indirectly strengthens their brand," says Joakim Netz.

He enjoyed talking about and discussing his research with the public at JU LIVE.

"I rarely give such long lectures, so it was a good opportunity for me to go into depth about my research. I will take the four or five questions that came from the audience at the end with me in my continued work," he says.

"Reliable knowledge"

Jan-Olof Häggquist was one of the about 40 audience members at JU LIVE. He found Joakim's lecture engaging and easy to follow.

"He talked about sustainable preparedness both on a personal level and in the bigger picture. It is important that reliable and scientifically based knowledge reaches the public, especially in these times of rapid news flows and many populist messages. So, I encourage this type of lecture at all costs," says Jan-Olof Häggquist.