During its budget workshop, the Finnish Government decided to increase funding for the Police of Finland by EUR 4.1 million. This means that police resources will be increased by 68 person-years during 2021.
“The Police of Finland must be able to provide high-quality policing across the country. With this additional funding, we aim, in accordance with the Government programme, to increase police resources in sparsely populated areas and to improve security in these areas. Next year, 30 new positions will be established in sparsely populated areas. We will work hard to help Finland to maintain its position as the safest country in the world”, says Maria Ohisalo , Minister of the Interior.
As required in the Government programme, the National Police Board has prepared a report on the police’s operational response times. In line with the goals set in the Government programme, maximum operational response times were defined in the National Police Board’s operational readiness report published last July.
According to the report, it takes particularly long for police patrols to reach rural municipalities where police assignments are rare. For example, there are municipalities in boundary zones of police units, where it takes a long time for police patrols to arrive. The Government’s goal is to increase the presence and visibility of the authorities, particularly in regions where the service level is lower.
According to Ohisalo, the Government aims to increase the Police of Finland’s person-years to 7,500 during 2022.
Additional funding to be allocated to three areas
According to National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen , the additional funding granted by the Finnish Government will be used to increase visibility in the areas of five police departments: Lapland, Oulu, Eastern Finland, Central Finland and Ostrobothnia.
“Instead of building new walls, we will invest in intelligence-led policing and police patrols to make police services available at the correct time where they are needed. The Police of Finland is doing everything it can with its available resources to make every day safe and to maintain the sense of security. Our goal is to be in the right place at the right time – always there where the police is urgently needed”, Kolehmainen says.
Last year, the National Police Board published its report on the state of public order and security activities, and issued 52 recommendations for actions as part of the report. The list includes additional recruitment in sparsely populated areas and job descriptions that support multiple skills, as well as the development of new operating methods, surveillance teams and local police activities.
Police services will also be improved by means of digitalisation. The Police of Finland’s licence service is already mainly accessible online or by booking an appointment. Offences can also be reported online, and this service will be updated this year.
Development to increase visibility and intelligence-led patrolling
In 2020, few more person-years were allocated to framework funding for the Oulu Police Department to increase the visibility of the police in sparsely populated areas. The department established a multi-function team of 1+4 police officers. Its tasks include surveillance in sparsely populated areas, support for daily criminal investigation, preventive activities and local policing. The team will continue operating in 2021.
“The specific purpose of the multi-function team in sparsely populated areas is to increase the visibility of the police and reduce the operational response time in urgent assignments. We also want to be visible in local rural media and make our police officers familiar faces in the eyes of the local population”, says Mika Heinilä, head of the Oulu Police Department.
This year, the Eastern Finland Police Department has improved the efficiency of police activities in sparsely populated areas, such as Keitele, Puumala and Outokumpu.
“As a result, operational response times have decreased. By means of intelligence-led policing, we assign patrols to locations where they are most likely needed on the basis of advance analyses”, says Kai Markkula , deputy chief of the Eastern Finland Police Department.
Transport patrols consisting of security guards have been tested in North Karelia. When security guards carry out transport assignments, police officers can be freed from transport to more urgent assignments. The aim is to expand these patrol activities to Northern Savonia. In Eastern Finland, preventive activities will also be developed by increasing the online visibility of the police.
In the Lapland Police Department, long distances present a challenge to assigning police patrols to locations where assignments are. Assignments are usually unexpected, and they may not be close to police stations. However, visibility and presence can be improved through intelligence-led shift planning.
“As a result of additional patrols, it is easier to be below the maximum operational response time set for patrols, also in boundary zones”, says Esa Heikkinen , head of the Lapland Police Department.
“Cooperation between police departments is very important, especially in boundary zones of police units, to ensure that the closest patrol can carry out an assignment, even if it is in the operating area of a different police department”, says National Police Commissioner Kolehmainen.
