Swedish police chief Mats Lofving found dead after inquiry

A senior police officer from Sweden was discovered deceased at his house in a case that the police have deemed “very unfortunate.” Regional police commander for Stockholm, Mats Lofving, was only under investigation for choices he allegedly made while dating the former head of police intelligence.

The injured person was reported to the police at Norrkoping, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south-west of Stockholm. They claimed that he could not be saved.

Police had opened a preliminary murder investigation, a spokesman told Swedish media, because it was yet unclear what caused his death.

An outside investigation had already discovered that Lofving, 61, who served as deputy national police chief, had a conflict of interest in several of the choices he made regarding Linda Staaf, the department’s intelligence chief (Noa).

Ms. Staaf has insisted time and time again that her relationship with Lofving was never more than platonic.

Runar Viksten, the special investigator who oversaw the inquiry, found no proof that she and Lofving were dating at the time she was named intelligence chief in 2015.

She received her service weapon from the police chief in 2020, her contract was extended and her pay was increased, and she was also given approval to write a crime fiction.

The investigation discovered that while Lofving’s judgements were neither unjustified nor improper, he shouldn’t have made them.

Lofving said that the conclusions had been challenging to hear on Wednesday to Sweden’s state television. He should either relinquish his position as police chief or resign entirely, according to the study.

Hours before the news of his death broke, Ms. Staaf claimed she was fully suited for the position and felt vindicated because the investigation found that the judgements taken regarding her were correct.

She believed the police authorities might have provided her with more assistance, though. She claimed to have been the target of a “smear campaign” to the Swedish media in December of last year.

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