Recent review of the police operational environment: smaller age groups and urbanisation are also challenges facing the police

Shrinking age groups and urbanisation are already realities today and nor are the police immune to these phenomena. The National Police Board’s recent analysis of the operational environment shows the challenges can already be seen with retaining the workforce in some duties, especially in sparsely populated areas and smaller police stations. Young people in particular prefer to move to growth centres, where also the main regional police stations are found and where, for example, administration and some police special operations are concentrated.

Whereas population development highlights recruiting problems in sparsely populated areas the further north you go, the appeal of a main police station is a reality in Western Uusimaa Police Department as well: 

“Our main police station in Espoo seems to be where most of our people want to work,” says Deputy National Police Commissioner Timo Saarinen at Western Uusimaa Police Department. 

Other police stations certainly manage to recruit employees, but they don’t necessarily stay in the job for very long once they have gained experience and incentives for more demanding duties.

Saarinen considers that the appeal of the main police station is not just its location but also the wider field of operations: 

“It is functionally justified to focus, for example, the special operations of a police department, such as the investigation of economic crimes or situations requiring teamwork, on the main police station. But this means that young people wanting to develop their career also apply there,” Saarinen says.

Western Uusimaa has changed special operations recruitment so that candidates from elsewhere than the main police station can be selected.

Police departments in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area also compete among themselves for talent. For example, Helsinki Police Department forms the hub of interesting national special operations. So, Western Uusimaa, for example, has to accept that the department is partly in the role of a training club before young officers move on to Helsinki or even to the National Bureau of Investigation.  

Police as one of many careers

“Young people these days may have more than one degree when they join the police – or plan to do several degrees in the future, which means police work is just one step on their career ladder. This is where a major change has taken place compared to earlier,” Saarinen reflects.

Young employees, both in the police and in civilian life, are not only in a good way more confident about themselves and their abilities, but also more aware of the labour market situation, where the employee’s market prevails. 

“I would describe the situation as being that whereas in the past employees would tell what they can offer, nowadays we need to tell what the police department can offer,” Saarinen says. 

The police also need civilian personnel. For example, ICT, or information and communication technology tasks are critical to police work: not a single police vehicle is operational without ICT skills. 

“When you see a police car on the road, you can actually think you are seeing ICT on the road: this is how capably a Finnish police car is fitted out,” says Assistant Police Commissioner Minna Gråsten at the National Police Board. 

The police also face a particularly heated ICT job market, which, as far as the police are concerned, is critical: in some sectors the situation is even more serious than for the police.

Everyone in the police has the right to expect good management, but this is particularly the case with young people. The police have launched a study of HR management in operative units. The study aims to provide an up-to-date overall picture, which is currently missing, and on that basis recommend measures to develop HR management. The study is currently ongoing and the results are expected in September. 

“The personnel are the police’s most important resource and staff costs account for around 70% of total police expenditure. The ability of the police to operate is based almost entirely on how well the personnel is looked after and managed,” Gråsten sums up.

Swedish-language skills needed

Another challenge raised in the operational environment review is the availability of Swedish-speaking police officers. There are areas in Western Uusimaa where service in Swedish must be secured on a daily basis. Police departments also compete among themselves for Swedish speakers. 

It is already a common morning occurrence at Ostrobothnia Police Department for a Swedish-speaking suspect to be waiting for questioning in the police prison. However, since the investigation team on its way to work lacks an investigator with adequate Swedish language proficiency, it takes time before an investigator from another team can be found.

“It is in no-one’s interest that simple routine matters cannot be dealt with straight away,” says Detective Inspector Thomas Skur at the crime prevention unit in Ostrobothnia Police Department. 

Especially in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, both Swedish and Finnish are needed to deal with most investigative tasks and it is not possible to use an interpreter for domestic languages. The language requirement restricts the sharing of cases to investigators who only speak and write Finnish. Skur says that there is a dire shortage of Swedish-speaking investigators at Ostrobothnia Police Department and reports of crime received pile up for just a few investigators.

Recent years have seen many bi-lingual police officers at Ostrobothnia Police Department transfer from investigation to specialised investigation teams or other duties. Language skills in these teams is at a very good level, but in investigation the situation is poor. 

“We started a project at the start of the year where all Swedish-speaking police officers helped out and this succeeded in catching up with the case load,” Skur says.
Whereas, the project temporarily rescued Ostrobothnia Police Department, it has failed to bring a permanent solution to the problem. It is problematic from the legality aspect for Swedish-speakers to have to wait longer for their cases to proceed. 

The police department is constantly thinking of alternative solutions to the problem. One suggestion has been to set up a pool for Swedish-language cases. Bi-lingual officers are currently paid a language proficiency increment of around €20, but Skur wonders whether there is a better incentive than this for officers working fluently in two languages.

Selection criteria must keep up with the times

The application period for Swedish-language police training is currently underway and like other educational institutions, the Police University College competes for young people in its age group. Even though in recent years the number of police training applicants has remained at a good level, around 5,000 applicants each year, there have not been enough people passing the selection process to fill all starting positions. This year the situation has improved. For the last two application periods, the courses are almost full.

The National Police Board has previously initiated a study on the state of police training, carried out by an external organisation, to investigate the working life equivalence and competence needs of degree and continuing education. The study takes into account among other things regional and language needs, diversity and the interest of police graduates in different duties. 

The persons conducting the study also assess the selection procedure and selection criteria as well as the possibility of individualised training paths. The intention is to examine whether it would be possible to switch from current general police education towards more targeted education. The question is whether for example, there should be a separate line for those interested in crime prevention and whether this could open the doors of police school to persons with some kind of physical limitation. 

“It’s ultimately a matter of the future of police work and the appeal of the field,” says Chief Superintendent Susanna Sankala at the National Police Board.

According to Sankala, the police need people with diverse backgrounds both for police and civilian duties.

“Competence requirements will increase going forward and with age groups shrinking, we want to act today, proactively. We want to be an interesting employer and continue to provide a high-quality education that meets the needs of working life,” Sankala says
Reviewing selection criteria is a continuous task at the Police University College and over the years changes have been made to different areas: for example, the weighting of written skills and aptitude assessment has increased through the years. The most recent changes were made in February 2023, when the aptitude assessment and physical test scores were reviewed. 

“The selection criteria for education must live with the times. We constantly follow societal changes in terms of what the requirements of a police career are and what kind of student and skills profile can respond to these,” explains Petri Alkiora, Chief of Education at the Police University College.

This release is based on the review of the police operational environment. The review comprises two separate reports, an external and internal environment analysis. They have been compiled by the analysis function at the National Police Board and a wide range of police administration experts and networks took part in its preparation. The analyses are based on as recent and wide-ranging research data, reports and expert viewpoints as possible. The operational environment reviews are public and can be read at https://poliisi.fi/en/operational-environment-and-statistics