Udlicitering af politiets opgaver i Danmark og Sverige

The growth in the private security industry alongside a persistent separation of policing from the state is a well-documented Western phenomenon. Yet in Denmark, the police still claim a monopoly over matters of security and the exercise of public authority. This is partly because they operate in a society with a strong cultural aversion to the privatisation of police tasks. Despite this traditional cultural antipathy, privatisation may nevertheless become a future scenario in Denmark due to changes in social attitudes in general and to internal crises within the police. This article presents and analyses these developments and considers the legal implications of privatising certain police tasks in Denmark. Building on this analysis, it draws conclusions about the potential avoidance of state liability through outsourcing. The paper draws comparisons with Sweden, a similar state in political, cultural and legal respects, which began delegating police tasks to private security companies almost fifty years ago, including those that involve the use of physical force.