The Western Uusimaa Police Department will conduct a practice-based exercise in the shopping centre Iso Omena in the night between 25 and 26 February. There will be police marked cars, civil cars as well as other police equipment in the practice area. The exercise can temporary cause noise nuisance.
Practical training is part of the Western Uusimaa Police Department's operations, and exercises are carried out with different operators. One of the Western Uusimaa Police Department's main topics in 2020 is indeed the cooperation with interest groups and its development. The training held in the shopping centre Iso Omena involves the police and the shopping centre as well as the Western Uusimaa Rescue Department, Securitas Oy and the City of Espoo.
The police is present where the people are
- Practical training is important in order for the police to be able to respond to the needs of the jurisdiction. The citizen's security is number one, and the police aims to be where the people are. The duties of the police are of such nature that they also need other operators. Therefore it is important to practice together with different kind of interest groups, like in this exercise with the shopping centre, and to ensure seamless cooperation between different authorities, says Chief Inspector Petteri Ovaska of the Western Uusimaa Police Department.
The exercises organised by the police and cooperation partners try to take into account the different localities of the Western Uusimaa area, such as water systems, land areas, urban areas and dispersed settlement areas, as well as traffic areas, for example the road and rail networks. Regular training is conducted so that the risks of modern society can be predicted and recognised, as well as to ensure the best possible preparedness in potential real-life situations.
Security is key
- The safety of our shopping centres and customers is essential, and we continuously cooperate with the police and other authorities, so we gladly offer our premises for these kinds of joint exercises. Shopping centres are part of people's day-to-day lives, so it is good that the police gets to practice in an authentic environment where many people pass by daily. Iso Omena has around 20 million customers per year, says Centre Manager Siim Rosenthal of Iso Omena.
- Exceptional circumstances in shopping centres are mainly first responded to by security services. The practice entity that is held now is a natural part of practices conducted in shopping centres and it further improves the functional capacity between different organisations. The exercise also provides a good opportunity for other managers to think about the arrangement of exceptional situations for their subjects and supports authorities, says Branch Manager Juha Soinela from Securitas Shopping Centre Security.
