This study combines police records with newspaper articles (media archives) to report the nature and trends of environmental and wildlife crime (EWC) in Sweden from 2000 to 2017. Geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial statistical techniques are used to implement a temporal and spatial analysis of EWC in Swedish municipalities, which are split into three types: urban, accessible rural, and remote rural. Findings show that following the 2006 legal reform that increased possibilities for prosecuting EWC, the number of both police-recorded cases and newspaper articles increased and eventually stabilized. They also show that although the majority of EWCs are minor crimes, particularly in urban municipalities, many of the more serious crimes show chronic temporal and spatial patterns in more rural and remote areas. The persistence of certain serious crimes over time is interpreted as an indication that the costs of breaking environmental law are low relative to economic gains. Then, drawing from criminological theory, the article finishes by discussing implications to research and policy.

中文翻译：

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2000 年至 2017 年瑞典的环境和野生动物犯罪

本研究将警方记录与报纸文章（媒体档案）相结合，报告了 2000 年至 2017 年瑞典环境和野生动物犯罪 (EWC) 的性质和趋势。地理信息系统 (GIS) 和空间统计技术用于实施时间和瑞典城市 EWC 的空间分析，分为三种类型：城市、可达农​​村和偏远农村。调查结果表明，随着 2006 年法律改革增加了起诉 EWC 的可能性，警方记录的案件和报纸文章的数量都有所增加并最终趋于稳定。他们还表明，虽然大多数 EWC 是轻微犯罪，尤其是在城市，但许多更严重的犯罪在更多农村和偏远地区表现出长期的时间和空间模式。随着时间的推移，某些严重犯罪的持续存在被解释为表明，相对于经济收益而言，违反环境法的成本较低。然后，从犯罪学理论出发，文章最后讨论了对研究和政策的影响。