real6
29-09-2008, 04:02 PM
http://www.cphpost.dk/get/108784.html
The leap in the number of shootings in Copenhagen has led experts to compare the situation to that of many US cities
Gangs are threatening to make Copenhagen’s streets into a war zone, as the number of shootings in the city has escalated considerably during the past year.
Three shooting episodes last week brought this year’s total in Copenhagen to an even 20 - twice as many as through the same period last year. Most recently, a 19-year old man was gunned down and killed last Thursday in the Brønshøj district. The young man was himself found to be armed.
While police are denying a gang war is taking place, many social and crime experts are concerned the situation is beginning to resemble that of major US cities, where gun-related crime is an everyday occurrence.
‘It’s very much like the American condition - a development we’ve also seen in other countries,’ Michael Hviid Jacobsen, sociologist at Aalborg University, told Nyhedsavisen newspaper.
‘We’re now seeing visible frustrations where people are shooting at each other across the street.’
It is especially the use of automatic weapons that has upped the stakes for both the gangs and for police. And while motorcycle gangs such as Hells Angels and Banditos were the original adversaries, many gangs with members of Arab or other Asian origin have now joined the fold.
‘Although it’s taboo to say it, it’s a simple fact that many of the shooting episodes involve people with another ethnic background than Danish,’ said Jacobsen. ‘We have to acknowledge that this is an especially problematic group.’
Jacobsen said the only way to deal with the situation is more police.
But Kim Kliver, head of the National Police’s investigative division, said the current violence is not necessarily a gang war needing large police units to cover it. He said many incidents are between local groups.
‘The violence occurs because a person wants to show he’s tough,’ said Kliver. ‘And when the media writes about it, then it gives them even more respect.’
The leap in the number of shootings in Copenhagen has led experts to compare the situation to that of many US cities
Gangs are threatening to make Copenhagen’s streets into a war zone, as the number of shootings in the city has escalated considerably during the past year.
Three shooting episodes last week brought this year’s total in Copenhagen to an even 20 - twice as many as through the same period last year. Most recently, a 19-year old man was gunned down and killed last Thursday in the Brønshøj district. The young man was himself found to be armed.
While police are denying a gang war is taking place, many social and crime experts are concerned the situation is beginning to resemble that of major US cities, where gun-related crime is an everyday occurrence.
‘It’s very much like the American condition - a development we’ve also seen in other countries,’ Michael Hviid Jacobsen, sociologist at Aalborg University, told Nyhedsavisen newspaper.
‘We’re now seeing visible frustrations where people are shooting at each other across the street.’
It is especially the use of automatic weapons that has upped the stakes for both the gangs and for police. And while motorcycle gangs such as Hells Angels and Banditos were the original adversaries, many gangs with members of Arab or other Asian origin have now joined the fold.
‘Although it’s taboo to say it, it’s a simple fact that many of the shooting episodes involve people with another ethnic background than Danish,’ said Jacobsen. ‘We have to acknowledge that this is an especially problematic group.’
Jacobsen said the only way to deal with the situation is more police.
But Kim Kliver, head of the National Police’s investigative division, said the current violence is not necessarily a gang war needing large police units to cover it. He said many incidents are between local groups.
‘The violence occurs because a person wants to show he’s tough,’ said Kliver. ‘And when the media writes about it, then it gives them even more respect.’