Criminality by street gangs

What is the Police definition for a street gang?

The Police defines street gangs as groups of permanent nature constituted by several persons who  together and repeatedly engage in criminal activities that essentially impact the order and safety of public places, in particular.

In addition to the defining factors, certain general features of street gangs have been identified, such as a network type of operation, young age, drug and violent crime forms. In addition, the gangs are connected to a particular neighbourhood, and the social media and popular culture play a role in building up the reputation of the gangs.

However, the Penal Code does not provide a specific definition for “street gangs”. Nevertheless, courts of law have found in certain rulings that the individual’s membership in a street gang constituted aggravating circumstances. 

The members of the street gangs are typically either of age or almost adult. The phenomenon differs from the violence among under-age young people. Street gangs also differ from organised criminality. However, the Police is concerned that each of the phenomena may end up feeding each other. The under-aged committing crimes may end up in street gangs which may, in time, turn into organised crime unless society intervenes with the phenomenon.

Is this a wide-spread phenomenon?

Over the past few months, no significant changes have been seen in the street gang situation (October 2023).

The street gangs operate in the Helsinki metropolitan area and surrounding municipalities as well as in the region round Turku. The Police has identified 10 groups classified as street gangs or corresponding local criminal networks. Some 260 persons in total have been associated with the groups, and after an analysis, the Police have divided further into two categories of persons:

• Members of a street gang: Individuals who, based on the repetitiveness and seriousness of their criminal activities or other information deemed reliable, can be judged to be street gang members. 
• Other persons associated with a street gang: Individuals who have a connection to a street gang or a street gang member, and the contact can be assumed to be associated with criminal activities. 

A major part of the individuals associated with street gangs are either themselves immigrants or have, for example, of a second generation immigrant background. The majority of those identified as street gang members are adults, mainly men between 18 and 30 years of age but there are also some minors who are, however, almost adult. 

When discussing the street gang phenomenon, it is necessary to distinguish this from the whole of the violent crimes committed by other young people, not identified as street gang members. However, there are indications that those in the street gangs use the young outside the gang proper to assist in the criminal activities which may blur the border between street gang criminality and juvenile delinquency. 

What has the Police done?

As of the autumn of 2022, the Police has intensified its nation-wide cooperation in street gang prevention and unified the definition, identification procedures, investigative arrangements and exchange of information between Police Units.

In July 2023, the Helsinki Police Department set up an investigative group specialised in street gang criminality, with the operations covering mainly the Helsinki metropolitan area but not limited by the areas of operation of various Police Units.

The Police has identified members of the street gangs and the connections within the groups. Based on this, the operations have been targeted at identified individuals and subjects. Crimes committed by those defined as street gang members have been submitted to public prosecutors for the consideration of charges, and certain crimes have been prevented from taking place. According to the Police assessments, the active Police operation has had a significant impact on keeping the street gang situation virtually unchanged over the past few months.

What should be done now?

According to the Police, the main reason for the young to end up in the gangs include social marginalisation and lack of vision for the future. Intoxicant abuse and health problems may also cause the young to be lured by the gangs, and therefore the measures to prevent gang formation are taken mainly by other actors, not the Police. Indeed, it is vital to prevent new young people approaching the gangs by decreasing the attraction of their criminal way of life and by offering options to find a place in society.

The Police takes the prevention work seriously but the action by the Police only is not sufficient. Cooperation between various authorities and other actors is required. From the Police perspective, the objective is to prevent the phenomenon from becoming more serious and established, and to break the cycle of violence and other crime.

The Police finds that their preventive work is most efficiently focused on the young who rotate around the gangs and who are attracted by the criminal way of life. The Police is involved in relevant multiprofessional cooperation, for example in the preventive anchor (Ankkuri) operations. 

The objective of the Police is to prevent the gang phenomenon from aggravating and becoming established, and to break the cycle of violence and crime in the making, by using the power and competence available to the Police. The Police seeks to identify the budding cycles of violence and to cut them before they grow, to investigate detected crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Further on the topic

Blog by Deputy National Police Commissioner Sanna Heikinheimo: Police alone cannot solve the street gang problem (in Finnish) 

Multiprofessional Anchor-work in Finland (you're going to a new website)