The police in 2019: The number of narcotics offences and sex offences rose

In 2019, a total of 334,796 offences came to the knowledge of the police nationwide. This is approximately 4 per cent or 13,500 offences more than in 2018. This number contains all criminal law offences with the exception of traffic offences.

According to National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen , there are many challenges over the horizon for the security environment – some already coming into view – including rising crime rates, police operations to uphold public order and security, traffic safety and investigation of offences.

“Challenges include the state of multiple deprivation many offenders are in, the increasing disparity between different communities and individuals, social marginalisation and the increasing opportunities for crime created by technology,” Kolehaminen says.

However, observing the trends in crime rates indicates that the severity of the upward trend varies significantly and is, in places, even reversed.

“The changing crime rates in different categories depend not only on the real increase or decrease in criminal activity but also on how actively victims report offences to the police. Other factors affecting the number of known offences are the effectiveness of authorities’ surveillance, availability of resources for the police and how surveillance is targeted,” National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen says.

The police have invested in detecting aggravated narcotics offences

According to statistics, narcotics offences and sex offences have seen a particularly severe increase in comparison to the previous year. Approximately 14 per cent more aggravated narcotics offences and approximately 15 per cent more sexual offences came to the knowledge of the police in 2019 than in the previous year.

The statistical increase in narcotics offences is partially a testament to the effective investigation and surveillance methods of the police, particularly in the case of aggravated narcotics offences. On the other hand, it is also telling of the wide-spread nature of the phenomenon.

“Narcotics and various degrees of mixing alcohol and narcotics are often in the background of many incidents such as disorderly conduct and various offences against life, health and property. Increased narcotics use also has an inevitable impact on traffic safety, which is seen particularly as narcotics-related cases of driving while intoxicated,” Seppo Kolehmainen says.

The elderly as victims of fraudsters

The number of fraud cases reported to the police grew by approximately 13 per cent, or by more than 4,200 incidents. The number of internet-based fraud cases grew proportionally more, increasing by over 21 per cent. There were more than 2,600 offences of this nature, meaning that a significant portion of the increase in fraud cases was the result of internet-based crimes.

“Many of the growing number of fraud crimes are directed at the elderly, meaning people who are 65 years of age or older. They have been scammed in different ways, including prying for PIN codes in association with card purchases, followed by the theft and criminal use of the card in question at cash dispensers and other places to steal the money from their accounts,” Seppo Kolehmainen says.

The number of homicides has continued to drop

Homicides and burglaries are the offences that have seen the greatest percental decrease since the previous year.

In 2019, a total of 74 homicides were committed, whereas the previous year saw 88 homicides. That is a decrease of more than 15 per cent. The downwards trend in the number of homicides has been evident for a long time.

Similarly, cases of theft have been in an almost-continuous downwards trend since the mid-1990s. However, in 2019, the number of most types of theft cases increased somewhat.

Data transfer problems in recording domestic disturbance calls

The number of domestic disturbance calls dropped approximately 9 per cent in 2019, according to statistics. Part of the decrease can be explained by data transfer problems between systems, which will be corrected during early 2020.

The number of traffic offences is still falling – there are also fewer drunk drivers

The number of traffic offences that came into the police’s knowledge in 2019 was 5.5 per cent lower than in 2018, showing 6,400 fewer cases.

The number of drunk drivers was also lower by a couple of percentage points, with approximately 400 fewer than in the previous year. However, there were 290 cases of causing a serious traffic hazard – more than 7 per cent more than in 2018.

The number of fines issued for offences detected by automatic traffic surveillance decreased significantly – almost 15 per cent.

The number of crimes committed by foreigners has increased slightly

The number of criminal law violations in which a suspect is a foreign national increased by approximately 4 per cent in 2019. The total number of offences was approximately 23,672, which is more than 1,000 more than in 2018.

The proportion of foreign suspects in cases of robbery and fraud has risen significantly. The number of foreign suspects in cases of robbery has grown more than 50 per cent and 40 per cent in cases of fraud. Property crimes are often linked to professional crime.

However, the number of sex crimes in which the suspect is a foreign national remained approximately the same as in 2018. The number of foreign suspects in narcotics offences has decreased slightly.

Investigation times have become longer

The average investigation time of criminal offences increased by about 5 per cent in comparison to 2018.

“Insufficient investigative resources, the internationalisation of crime and advances in technology make it challenging to conduct long investigations,” National Police Commissioner Kolehmainen says.

The distribution of tasks belonging to different priority categories has changed

In 2019, the number of police tasks in priority category A has increased, and, correspondingly, the number of tasks in category B has decreased. The number of tasks in category A have been around 70,000 per year.

One reason for the increase in 2019 is system changes which ensure that task management and priority assessment criteria are adhered to more strictly and uniformly than previously.

Operational readiness time has increased

Operational readiness time for category A tasks has increased nationally by slightly more than a minute.

Regional differences can be considerable, however, as was shown in the report on the state of public order and security published by the police in late 2019. The police are typically able to arrive at a scene faster in areas that have a larger population and, consequently, a larger number of police tasks and a greater need for emergency services.

“One of the goals of the new Government Programme is to increase the authorities’ presence and visibility in areas where the service level is poorer. To ensure this is achieved, the Government Programme includes an item specifying maximum acceptable police response times for the whole country. The matter is currently being prepared in a National Police Board working group,” Kolehmainen says.

A record-breaking year for identity cards

The police issued a total of 1,337,842 licences and identity documents last year, which is more than 20 per cent more than in 2018. The growth is primarily explained by the increase in the issuing of travel documents, particularly identity cards. In 2019, 65 per cent more identity cards were issued than in 2018. The number of documents issued also grew in other categories, with the exception of private security sector permits.

The significant increase in the number of issued identity cards is partially explained by a law reform in early 2019 that required persons applying for electronic identification devices to have a valid passport or identity card. Included in the aforementioned identification devices are online banking credentials, Citizen Certificates and telecommunications companies’ mobile IDs.

The option to apply for an identification card at a reduced price in connection with a passport application was likely also a contributing factor. A total of 160,181 identification cards were applied for in connection with a passport application.

The number of police officers grew by 72

The police’s total number of staff grew by 173 (1.7 per cent) in comparison to the previous year. Of those, 72 were police officers, making the proportional increase from the previous year slightly less than 1 per cent. At the end of last year, the police had 7,390 officers.

The Government Programme has committed to increasing the number of police officers to 7,500 by the end of the programme’s term.

“This is movement in the right direction. However, a sustainable minimum number of police officers would be 7,850, as outlined by the Administration Committee. We still have some way to go before we reach the point where the police can perform their various statutory functions throughout the country in the current operating environment and live up to their vision of ‘protecting everyone at all times,’” National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen says.

We also publish statistics in Excel-spreadsheet form so as to fulfil the requirements of the Web Accessibility Directive.

Police statistics 2019 pdf, 200,4 kB

Police statistics 2019 excell xlsx, 116,4 kB

Police statistics 2019, crimes comitted by foreign nationals pdf, 200,8 kB

Police statistics 2019, crimes comitted by foreign nationals, excell xlsx, 116,8 kB