Police report: Harassment affects the well-being and coping of personnel but does not affect decision making

In October 2019, the National Police Board carried out a survey of police personnel on the subject of harassment with the intention of mapping the frequency, forms and outcomes of the harassment of police personnel. The survey was taken by 834 respondents, accounting for 8.2 per cent of the entire staff. Of respondents, 61 per cent worked primarily in crime prevention or emergency and surveillance operations.

The survey found that almost 89 per cent of respondents consider harassment of police a problem. Of respondents, 258 (approx. 31 per cent) had personally encountered harassment, and roughly half (approx. 48 per cent) had noticed harassment directed at a member of their own unit.

‘The report has reinforced the view that harassment directed at police is a serious problem that should be addressed using all available means. Our staff are our most important resource, and we must be able to promote their well-being appropriately,’ National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen says .

The right to criticise authorities is part of democracy

The report defines harassment as an attempt to create a detrimental perception of police by searching for information relating to the work or private life of police personnel and detrimental framing or distorting of said information or by the spreading of false information.

Harassment can also manifest as direct or indirect threats or the use of legitimate legal action to harm or harass to an extent clearly in excess of what can be considered acceptable.

The intent of such actions is to pressure individuals into abandoning the discharge of their duties or to coerce them into a certain course of action. Harassment is not the act of criticising an official, criticising the actions of an official or the conventional employment of legal action.

‘The right to criticise the conduct of authorities is part and parcel of democracy, and that is not what is meant by harassment. Harassment is used in an attempt, by inappropriate means, to affect the actions of authorities, to chip away at public trust in authorities and, by doing so, to influence society and the legal system as a whole. In such cases, harassment affects everyone,’ Kolehmainen states.

According to Kolehmainen, the different forms of harassment are taken very seriously by the police and they are responded to by means provided within the law.

The survey suggests that many police personnel feel that the employer should be able to take the legal process forward on behalf of the individual official in more cases, but legislation does not currently facilitate this. In the summer of 2019, the National Police Board, together with the Office of the Prosecutor General and district court chief judges, presented to the Ministry of Justice proposed amendments to legislation to enable prevention and intervention in cases of harassment.

‘The police profession is still partially marked by the expectation that certain things are simply integral parts of it and must therefore be accepted. This cannot be the case. There must be adequate protections in place to safeguard an official’s honour and right to live in peace. Also, when it comes to offences or criminal investigations, legal protections cannot be weaker than they are in the case of other citizens. As a matter of fact, it should be the opposite because police have a duty of care. Whether or not there is a risk of harassment involved, police have a duty to act,’ Kolehmainen says.

Defamation, slander and threats from targets of policing

The most common forms of harassment that emerged in the survey were defamation, slander and direct or indirect threats.

Other forms of harassment include the use of the Web and legal action in ways that are not, in and of themselves, illegal but clearly exceed the limits of acceptability. Survey respondents also reported harassment directed at close family. In most cases, harassment involved an individual who had been the target of police action.

Avoidance of public duties and topics of conversation as a result

According to the survey conducted by the National Police Board, harassment most significantly affected the target’s well-being and coping. Harassment had also led targets to changing their behaviour on social media and tightening their security measures or, at least, considering doing so. The third most significant adverse effect of harassment concerned the well-being and coping of the target’s close family members.

. Approximately one in ten reported avoiding duties that involved a risk of becoming a target of harassment, such as duties in public spaces and duties that are likely to become topics of conversation.

‘We have to consider it good news that harassment has very rarely achieved its objective – affecting the decision making and behaviour of the targeted official.’

However, there were also more serious outcomes, as 13 per cent of all the survey respondents had considered changing occupation as a result of harassment. Of those who had personally encountered harassment, an even greater proportion had considered changing occupation – almost one in five (18 per cent). Approximately ten respondents reported having changed their employment roles due to harassment.

Only a small portion of respondents reported harassment directed at them becoming the subject of a preliminary investigation. One third of respondents did not want to initiate a criminal procedure due to concerns over potential increased harassment. The methods of criminal procedure were considered inadequate, and a third felt that the organisation should have taken the matter forward on behalf of the individual official concerned.

Slightly under one third of respondents felt that their employer’s efforts in harassment cases had been inadequate. Areas that were brought forward as needing development included support for the employee, protection of the police official’s identity, legislative amendments and the addition of further instructions.

Since before the beginning of the survey, the National Police Board has been drafting standardised instructions for police units regarding procedures related to harassment and its prevention. According to National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen, the new instructions will address the needs and suggestions that were brought forward in the survey.

‘Even in adverse situations, the Finnish police live up to the trust placed in them. However, society should not expect police to endure even more than their demanding job already requires of them,’ Seppo Kolehmainen says.

The survey, forwarded to the entire staff of the police force, was performed over the course of two weeks in October 2019. Questions focused on the respondents’ experiences from the past three years. Respondents answered the survey anonymously. All police units were represented in the survey.