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Bluelighter
Bullets Fly in Copenhagen as Drug Gang War Punctures City Image
Bo Nielsen and Christian Wienberg
Bloomberg
3.6.09
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- A turf war between drug gangs is turning one of Europe’s safest cities into a shooting gallery.
Denmark’s worst-ever bout of violence between criminals intensified last week with three shootings that left two dead in Copenhagen, the capital. That prompted the government on March 4 to propose some of the most sweeping laws in the country’s legal history by lengthening jail terms and giving police more surveillance powers, including wiretaps.
“We’ll give police almost anything they ask for,” Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen told reporters this week. “We need extraordinary steps. We won’t give the gangs a moment’s rest.”
Tension has simmered since police in 2004 stamped on open drug pedaling in Copenhagen enclave Christiania. Violence erupted last year with the emergence of immigrant gangs, police said. After 30 shootings in six months, officers are scrambling to stop the crossfire spreading to its cobbled streets and squares.
Copenhagen places third among European capitals in Mercer Investment Consulting’s 2008 Quality of Living rankings, which assesses crime rates and personal safety. Vienna and Bern, the Swiss capital, were ahead. Denmark is the world’s second-most peaceful country behind Iceland, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, which ranks 140 countries.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 36 years serving the Copenhagen police force,” said Henrik Svindt, who heads an anti-gang unit formed last week. “The worst thing is that some of the people killed or injured are innocent bystanders.”
Spraying Bullets
In 2008, there were 60 shootings in Copenhagen, three times the number in the previous year. The latest round of conflict pits about 100 bikers against an estimated 300 gang members in the city, police say.
On March 2, two masked gangsters sprayed a Copenhagen bar frequented by Hells Angels members with at least 10 bullets. The shooters, who haven’t been caught, killed one and wounded three people who weren’t linked to bikers.
“This is not the city I know,” said Bjarke Lungholt, 35, a medical intern who lives with his young family in the Noerrebro district, where the majority of the attacks have taken place. “It’s bizarre that it happens so openly and frequently.”
Blaagaard’s elementary school with 630 students in Noerrebro made emergency plans in case of a shooting close by, including creating a plan to evacuate a playground and place guards by doors, according to its Web site.
A local sports center, a cultural center and a library have decided to close after 6 p.m. and canceled weekend events, according to their Web site.
Ethnic Tension
The violence risks exacerbating conflict between Danes and immigrants, which make up almost 6 percent of the country’s population. Most of the incomers arrived as so-called guest workers from Turkey and Pakistan in the 1970s, while later arrivals were refugees from Iran, Iraq, Bosnia and Somalia.
Relations between immigrants and other residents have been strained since September 2005, when Denmark’s biggest newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, including one showing him with a bomb in his turban.
“This conflict has an ethnic side to it,” said Klaus Bondam, a deputy major of the city. “That threatens to polarize Copenhagen and alienate a large group of citizens.”
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s government said this week it will make it easier to expel gang members without Danish citizenship. Also, prison terms for gang-related offences will be extended, tripling for some offenses.
Copenhagen is now concerned about how it’s viewed abroad.
The city has more than 6 million overnight stays each year from tourists who come to see sights including the Little Mermaid statue and the Royal Palace, home to Queen Margrethe II, head of Europe’s oldest monarchy.
“Copenhagen’s image as a super-safe city is cracking up,” said Per Larsen, operational chief of Copenhagen Police. “Now we’re going to work like hell to get things back in order.”
Link!
Bo Nielsen and Christian Wienberg
Bloomberg
3.6.09
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- A turf war between drug gangs is turning one of Europe’s safest cities into a shooting gallery.
Denmark’s worst-ever bout of violence between criminals intensified last week with three shootings that left two dead in Copenhagen, the capital. That prompted the government on March 4 to propose some of the most sweeping laws in the country’s legal history by lengthening jail terms and giving police more surveillance powers, including wiretaps.
“We’ll give police almost anything they ask for,” Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen told reporters this week. “We need extraordinary steps. We won’t give the gangs a moment’s rest.”
Tension has simmered since police in 2004 stamped on open drug pedaling in Copenhagen enclave Christiania. Violence erupted last year with the emergence of immigrant gangs, police said. After 30 shootings in six months, officers are scrambling to stop the crossfire spreading to its cobbled streets and squares.
Copenhagen places third among European capitals in Mercer Investment Consulting’s 2008 Quality of Living rankings, which assesses crime rates and personal safety. Vienna and Bern, the Swiss capital, were ahead. Denmark is the world’s second-most peaceful country behind Iceland, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, which ranks 140 countries.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 36 years serving the Copenhagen police force,” said Henrik Svindt, who heads an anti-gang unit formed last week. “The worst thing is that some of the people killed or injured are innocent bystanders.”
Spraying Bullets
In 2008, there were 60 shootings in Copenhagen, three times the number in the previous year. The latest round of conflict pits about 100 bikers against an estimated 300 gang members in the city, police say.
On March 2, two masked gangsters sprayed a Copenhagen bar frequented by Hells Angels members with at least 10 bullets. The shooters, who haven’t been caught, killed one and wounded three people who weren’t linked to bikers.
“This is not the city I know,” said Bjarke Lungholt, 35, a medical intern who lives with his young family in the Noerrebro district, where the majority of the attacks have taken place. “It’s bizarre that it happens so openly and frequently.”
Blaagaard’s elementary school with 630 students in Noerrebro made emergency plans in case of a shooting close by, including creating a plan to evacuate a playground and place guards by doors, according to its Web site.
A local sports center, a cultural center and a library have decided to close after 6 p.m. and canceled weekend events, according to their Web site.
Ethnic Tension
The violence risks exacerbating conflict between Danes and immigrants, which make up almost 6 percent of the country’s population. Most of the incomers arrived as so-called guest workers from Turkey and Pakistan in the 1970s, while later arrivals were refugees from Iran, Iraq, Bosnia and Somalia.
Relations between immigrants and other residents have been strained since September 2005, when Denmark’s biggest newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, including one showing him with a bomb in his turban.
“This conflict has an ethnic side to it,” said Klaus Bondam, a deputy major of the city. “That threatens to polarize Copenhagen and alienate a large group of citizens.”
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s government said this week it will make it easier to expel gang members without Danish citizenship. Also, prison terms for gang-related offences will be extended, tripling for some offenses.
Copenhagen is now concerned about how it’s viewed abroad.
The city has more than 6 million overnight stays each year from tourists who come to see sights including the Little Mermaid statue and the Royal Palace, home to Queen Margrethe II, head of Europe’s oldest monarchy.
“Copenhagen’s image as a super-safe city is cracking up,” said Per Larsen, operational chief of Copenhagen Police. “Now we’re going to work like hell to get things back in order.”
Link!
