The Swedish police should be able to use real-time facial recognition software with Artificial Intelligence technology to fight crime, the Swedish government proposed today as it seeks new tools to tackle a wave of violent crime that has rocked the Scandinavian country in recent years.

The proposed law would allow police to use AI technology to track or identify people linked to serious crimes such as human trafficking, kidnapping, and murder.

“To tackle gang crime and restore security in society, the police must have access to effective tools,” Justice Minister Gunnar Stroemer said in a statement.

Sweden has been plagued by gang violence for more than a decade and recorded by far the highest per capita rate of fatal gun violence incidents in the EU in 2023, the latest year for which comparable statistics are available.

This phenomenon overshadows other issues on the Swedish political scene, leading to the rise to power of a far-right-backed coalition government.

This new government, in power from 2022, ended eight years of rule by the Social Democrats, Sweden’s dominant political party since the 1930s.

The government has stressed that the new law, which is to be put to a vote in parliament and will come into force in early 2026 if approved, will comply with personal integrity laws and will only be used in matters of particular importance.