Demonstrators across Europe – from the overwhelmingly older, peaceful protestors in the UK currently being arrested in their hundreds for supporting recently proscribed group #Palestine Action# – to youthful #climate activists often roughed up by police Germany, may look with envy at Sweden, where softly-spoken police officers attempt to find common ground between legitimate protest and the rights of others to go about their daily business.
Deeper understandings
The Dialogue Police were set up after the 2001 EU summit in Göteborg was marred by violent clashes between police and demonstrators. A government inquiry concluded that the Swedish police needed a deeper understanding of politically active groups.
One team was set up in Stockholm and has been working ever since. Shot in 2022, Susanna Edwards’ eponymous film follows the small team of dedicated officers as they police the right to free speech for all in a deeply polarised society. Strong nerves, a deep sense of conviction – and a good sense of humour get them through some of the most complex policing situations one can find.
Strong nerves, a deep sense of conviction – and a good sense of humour get them through some of the most complex policing situations one can find.
Sharp end of policing
The strength of Edwards’ absorbing film is in the close attention to character she pays. The team are experienced officers, led by a 33-year veteran of the force. All have experience of the sharp end of policing, but newcomers need to learn a lot on the job about the particular challenges of the Dialogue Police.
Ensuring the right of free speech is not easy – particularly when a far-right racist #Rasmus Paludan#, a Danish-Swedish politician, is intent on inflaming passions in Sweden’s #Muslim community by burning copies of the Qur’an.
The team has a duty to protect his right to #free speech# and safety, at the same time as trying to calm emotions in those he hopes to incite. It is not an easy balancing act, particularly since Paludan pushes his right to free speech to the limit – calling a Muslim man a «monkey» to his face – and is openly abusive to police officers. Paludan was jailed for four months in November 2024 on charges of incitement against an ethnic group for burning copies of the Qur’an.
The fringe
It is not just extremists like Paludan that the Dialogue Police have to contend with – they try to negotiate a time limit on a rush-hour intersection sit-down by members of #Extinction Rebellion#, as commuters lose their cool. And they talk with plenty of the usual fringe religious types that public demonstrations bring out.
But it is at an annual political gathering in Stockholm that they meet the random violence that bedevils Western society today, when a woman is knifed – and later dies – in an isolated incident none could foresee. Their depression and despair at failing to stop the murder, not precisely their responsibility, is clear on their faces.
The film, which has an artful, specially composed background score, concludes with vignettes on where members of the team have gone since the film was made. Most have moved on to other police jobs, some remain but maintain other duties, including being part of a UN unit in #South Sudan#, and training Colombian police in dialogue tactics.
