Sharp increase: More fixed for drunk driving on the Oresund Bridge – Swedish Dagbladet

since the temporary border controls were introduced have significantly more drivers caught for drunk driving after coming from Denmark Oresund Bridge. Photo: Erland Edible / TT

The criticism has been strong in Skåne against the government’s decision to impose temporary border controls and ID checks for travel from Denmark to Sweden. One consequence of border controls that are seldom noted is that they have led to significantly more drivers are caught drunk on the way from Denmark.

The first six months of last year, police discovered three all of drunk driving at the border at the bridge abutment. The same period this year discovered 57 cases – nineteen times as many.

The increase is due that police carry out border control on almost all passing the bridge – 95 percent of drivers and passengers were checked in July month, according to police. In many cases, conducting police also alcohol test on drivers.

– Border control has this consequence. There are both civil servants and police officers to stop cars at the border, and I would guess that everyone who stopped by the police may do a breath test, says Timmy Jeppsson, deputy interior officers at the police in Malmö.

Drunk driving is not is the only crime detected a greater extent because of the border control. Also, the number of complaints of drug driving was twenty times more the first half of this year compared to last year. Although other drug offenses has increased significantly.

The number of cases of smuggling has also increased, as SvD previously reported on.

– Border control does that we control people more now. There are a lot of drugs, drunk driving, and we discover even some thefts, says Timmy Jeppsson.

The temporary border controls were introduced in November last year. The government justified the introduction of the need to keep track of the people who come to Sweden and to capture those who come here to seek asylum.

Only a small percentage of asylum seekers caught, however, by the border control.

This is probably in part to border control for passengers in recent times has been prioritized down. According to the police checked only every tenth passenger in July.

In January, the government introduced even identity checks for travelers by train, bus and boat from Denmark. The checks are made on the Danish side, and has meant that the train journeys to Sweden now takes more than twice as long as usual.