Herstedvester Prison ( da, Herstedvester Fængsel) is a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

in Herstedvester,

Greater Copenhagen The urban area of Copenhagen (also known as Greater Copenhagen) ( da, Storkøbenhavn or ), lying mostly in the Capital Region of Denmark but also in Region Zealand, consist of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipalities and the former Copenhagen ...

, Denmark, for treatment by the Danish Prison and Probation Service. It houses convicted

felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resul ...

s and in some cases also people with custody rulings in need of

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

assistance and observation. Herstedvester was built in 1935 for the detention and imprisonment of

psychopaths Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

. Upon establishment, they were the first European prison to use a treatment method known as democratic therapeutic community. The institution has a capacity of 143 people in the closed section and 23 in the semi-open section. Greenlandic prisoners considered too high risk for the open-style prisons in Greenland all used to serve in Herstedvester. In 2019, Greenland's first fully closed prison opened in the capital

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other coun ...

and Greenlandic prisoners in Herstedvester were offered a transfer. However, a large proportion have wished to continue serving their sentence in Herstedvester instead of Nuuk. Several notable inmates have for periods stayed at Herstedvester, including Abel Klemmensen,

Peter Lundin Peter Kenneth Bostrøm Lundin (born February 15, 1972), who later renamed himself to Bjarne Skounborg and most recently Thomas Kristian Olesen, is a Danish serial killer who, on March 15, 2001, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Østre La ...

and

Peter Madsen Peter Langkjær Madsen (; born 12 January 1971) is a Danish convicted murderer and former entrepreneur. In April 2018, he was convicted of the 2017 murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine, ''UC3 Nautilus'', and sentenced ...

References

External links

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Institution of Herstedvester
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institution Of Herstedvester, The Herstedvester Government buildings completed in 1935 1935 establishments in Denmark Buildings and structures in Albertslund Municipality