Two policemen were shot in their official duties today in Porvoo. Earlier this weekend, shots were fired at the police in Jyväskylä. First of all, I want to wish restoration for the wounded policemen and their loved ones as well as a speedy recovery. The entire police administration, and I believe the entire society support the wounded police officers.
The police risk their lives every day in order to keep the society safe. It is our duty: to keep everyone safe at all times. Thus, violence towards the Finnish police is violence towards the Finnish society. We cannot allow that.
For several years, we have been discussing how our operating environment has changed significantly. At the same time, we have tried to ensure that the authorities have the capacity, skills, readiness and legislation that correspond to the circumstances.
Violence towards the police has doubled in this millennium. Last year, the words pistol, shotgun, rifle or assault rifle were mentioned almost seven thousand times in the police duty reports. Before last night, shots were aimed at the police twice and someone threatened to shoot the police nine times this year.
One of the main duties of the police is ensuring public order and safety. The police have approximately 35,000 assignments related to lives and health every year. In these assignments, the risks are greater than usual.
The head investigator will give more information about the night’s events later. In addition to the current criminal investigation, we will also assess the event from a broader operative perspective.
The Finnish police training is internationally acclaimed. We have worked for a long time to improve occupational safety, and this work will continue. On the material side, we have received new protective and forcible means equipment in the past few years. Even in this case, it may be that the protective equipment saved the wounded police officers’ lives or at least their health.
The entire organisation must support an individual policeman’s operations with the best equipment, training and leadership. Even so, a street patrol can still end up in a dangerous situation that we could not have prepared for even with the most careful planning and equipping.
However, I do not want to predict the future too much in this connection. The details will be clarified as the investigation proceeds.
