Police data error disrupts childcare and sports across Denmark

DR reports that an error in the criminal register is preventing municipalities from obtaining legally required child certificates for new hires, creating staffing problems in childcare centres and sports facilities.

Gellerupbadet, a swimming pool in Aarhus, can remain open today and tomorrow, but will close to the public on Sunday because it does not have enough lifeguards.

“I hope they get it sorted as quickly as possible, so we can get lots of children back into our sports facilities,” said Heidi Frostholm, head of the Sport and Leisure administration in Aarhus Municipality.

The pool will still be used by schools and sports clubs after it closes to the public.

The problem is also affecting childcare services elsewhere. In Randers, the municipality is struggling to make staffing schedules work in day-care centres, municipal director Jesper Kaas Schmidt said.

“We are trying to solve it by using some of the familiar substitute workers we already have,” he said.

That solution cannot be maintained indefinitely, Schmidt added. If the problem continues for more than 14 days, it could begin to affect the municipality’s operations.

Rigspolitiet, Denmark’s national police authority, stopped issuing child certificates last week after discovering that data had been deleted from the criminal register. Information relevant to the certificates may therefore be missing.

Rigspolitiet said on Friday that it still expects the error to be fixed within one to two weeks.

A child certificate contains information about possible sexual offences against children under the age of 15. Employers must obtain one when an employee will have direct contact with children under 15.

Copenhagen Municipality is also feeling the effects of the error. “It is still critical. Every week that passes makes it increasingly critical,” Jakob Næsager, the city’s children and youth mayor, told Ritzau.

The timing is particularly difficult because the municipality relies on many young childcare assistants until they begin their studies in early September. As in Randers, existing substitute workers are covering the gaps for now.

“We can do that here in September. But there are limits to how many months we can continue to overburden the substitute workers,” Næsager said.