Göran Lindberg and Sweden’s dark side | feature | World news | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/01/goran-lindberg-sweden-crime-palme
If there was ever a real-life policeman who came close in progressive Swedish affections to Kurt Wallander, the bestselling creation of Henning Mankell, it would probably be Göran Lindberg, chief of police of Uppsala, the city north of Stockholm that is home to Sweden’s most prestigious university. Although he lacked Wallander’s humility and reticence, Lindberg was concerned, like Wallander, with the marginalised and neglected in Swedish society. He was the sponsor of a sanctuary for abused juveniles, for example, and was at the forefront of the campaign to institute a more sympathetic response to rape victims.
In particular Lindberg was a staunch enemy of sexism in the police force. He argued with colleagues, made speeches and built up a reputation as a tireless proponent of women’s rights. So vocal was Lindberg that he ruffled the epaulettes of fellow policemen. “His colleagues,” says PJ Anders Linder, political editor-in-chief of the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, “were obviously not quite as obsessed with the issue as he was. He seemed to be like a civil servant who had decided that this was how he was going to make his mark.”
And he did. From early in his career, Lindberg was seen by the authorities as a policing role model and was duly made the national spokesperson on sex equality in the police force. Pretty soon he established a reputation as Sweden’s leading progressive policeman. So renowned was Lindberg for his political correctness and sensitivity towards women’s issues that he was nicknamed “Captain Skirt”. In spite of the jokes, he was rapidly promoted, becoming the dean of the police training college and eventually the police chief of Uppsala.
In January this year, following a six-month investigation, Lindberg was arrested. At the time of his apprehension he was allegedly on his way to meet a 14-year-old girl in a hotel encounter that was also due to feature a number of other men. It was said that in his car was a bag containing leather whips, handcuffs and a blindfold.
