Unclear messages at the last minute and revoked licenses. Compared with last spring, communication between law enforcement authorities and Lund nations has deteriorated, according to Kuratorskollegiet
Text by: Tindra Englund Translation: Richard Helander
“Halland’s nation is not the first to have run into problems with the authorities, mostly the police,” according to Ludvig Bodelsson, chairperson of Kuratorskollegiet (The Association of Lund nation qurators, KK).
Last-minute answers
According to Ludvig Bodelsson, cooperation and communication with the police force has become increasingly difficult and unclear ever since much of the work of Lund’s police force was transferred to Malmö.
“Last week for example, through one of the qurators, we received word that police had suddenly decided to revoke the 4AM släpp-permit that had been exclusively for the AF-building and Kårhuset,” Ludvig Bodelsson says.
Previously, there has been an agreement between the police force, the permit granting authority, and the nations. This agreement has made it easier for the nations to acquire permits to keep the parties going in the AF building until four o’clock in the morning. But for some reason, the police have suddenly changed their mind on this.
“The decision was made without providing us with any sort of information. Instead, we heard it from a qurator who had applied for and had been denied a permit. The qurator then called the police and asked for a reason. The answer was that the local police authority had decided to revoke that special permit,” Ludvig Bodelsson says.
Revoked the decision
KK contacted the permit granting authority who had not been informed of the decision either. Through them, KK finally managed to commence a dialogue with the police.
“Then, the police decided to withdraw their rash decision, and as it stands now, they will re-evaluate the question once more, after having done further analyses of the level of public order,” Ludvig Bodelsson says.
Nations frustrated
But frustration runs high with both KK and the nations – frustration over such a decision having been made without any effort to communicate with them or with any other authorities involved.
“Of course, this generates insecurity and frustration, since we try to adhere to the regulations and demands that are put on our establishments, but that becomes hard when regulations are so unclear,” says Ludvig Bodelsson.
According to him, being given such information at such a late stage could be problematic since it puts the whole arrangement at risk.
“Then, suddenly we might have to start the ball night earlier than planned, something few people have time for or want to do. Alternatively, it might result in the time schedule being squeezed together, which is not a good solution either,” Ludvig Bodelsson says.
Raises problems for Halland’s
Ludvig Bodelsson also believes that what happened at Halland’s nation last week is both worrying and problematic.
“Being forced to cancel a club night could be devastating for the nation in the long-term as well. Because every nation strives to keep within budget, lost revenue could affect the whole organisation of a nation.”
According to Ludvig Bodelsson, more nations risk being severely affected if communication with the police stay at the low level of today. But in an effort to prevent such a negative trend, KK will invite all parties to a meeting, to discuss how communications could be improved. At the same time, Ludvig Bodelsson cannot quite hide his own disappointment with how things have turned out.
“It feels even more strange since the authorities told us that the new permit rules would not mean any great organisational changes or difficulties,” Ludvig Bodelsson says.
Police are sorry about the situation
The police apologise for turnaround time being prolonged, and they too think that the problems are due to the re-organisation.
“Our organisation has gone through some changes, and sadly, these changes have affected a great deal of the permit-handling section; for that, we are sorry,” police officer Joakim Nyberg says.
According to him, communication was smooth this past spring, even though big changes were made with respect to nations’ permits.
“But ever since the start of the semester, misunderstandings and miscommunication has increased,” Joakim Nyberg says.
The police are now working on improving the collaboration in the future.
“I do hope that we can find our way back to the constructive dialogue we have had previously,” Joakim Nyberg says.
