Street gang crime

How do the police define a street gang?

There is no generally accepted or established definition of what is a street gang. To focus their actions, the police have devised an administrative definition of a street gang: a street gang is a permanently constituted group whose members collaborate in repeatedly undertaking criminal activities that have a significant impact on public order and safety.

In other words, the police define a street gang as a group of people who commit crimes together, or at least in collusion, on a continuous basis. Street gang crime is likely to endanger the order and safety of public places or cause a feeling of insecurity in a particular area. The offences include serious violent crime, possession of firearms or bladed weapons, and narcotics offences involving violence or the threat of violence. However, street gangs may also be involved in cybercrime and other offences aimed at significant financial gains.

In addition to the definition, there are a number of observed general features of street gangs. Street gangs often have a networked structure, their active members are adolescent males or young adult males, and they are often associated with a specific city district. In the street gangs identified by the police, the majority of members are immigrants or people from an immigrant background born in Finland. 

Street gangs have so far not been specifically mentioned in the Criminal Code. In January 2025, the Government issued a proposal (HE 219/2024 vp) suggesting that a provision defining a ‘criminal group’ be added to the Criminal Code. The term ‘criminal group’ in this proposal specifically refers to street gangs. In some court decisions, there has been discussion of whether a particular street gang fulfils the definition of an organised criminal group as per the Criminal Code. In two cases, a Court of Appeal has ruled that while the essential elements of the defining provision were not met in all respects, the fact of acting together as a group was considered in passing sentence.

It is the considered opinion of the police that youth crime, street gangs and organised crimes are separate phenomena to some degree but occupy the same continuum. The police are concerned that each of these could feed into another: minors committing crimes may end up in street gangs or committing crimes on behalf of street gangs or other criminal groups. Street gangs may evolve to become more professional and more organised. The police have also observed that some street gangs collaborate with various organised criminal groups.

How widespread is this phenomenon?

The police estimate that in 2024 the street gang scene has remained unchanged on the whole. The main players are largely the same as before, and the number of offences discovered by and reported to the police has remained stable in the past years. In 2024, the number of reports of crimes involving members of street gangs decreased by about one fifth on the previous year. The police consider that this is the result proactive measures by the police, as key members of street gangs have been the subject of criminal investigations and have been sentenced for various offences.

Although the overall situation is stable, several serious violent offences were reported to the police in 2024 that involved persons linked to street gang crime. There are also signs that some street gangs have become more professional in their criminal activities, which can be seen for instance in drug-related crime being better organised than before. At the same time, some gangs have reduced their presence on social media platforms. These trends demonstrate the increasing level of professionalism and threats in street gang crime.

According to an estimate made in early 2025, there are about 180 key persons actively involved in criminal activities in the street gangs identified by the police. While it was noted earlier that there are about a dozen identified gangs, this is no longer felt to accurately reflect the current operating environment. Street gangs have no formal organisation; they engage in criminal activities and collaboration in various formations both within an individual network and between networks. Prison sentences and actions taken by the authorities affect the operations of gangs in various way.

The principal street gangs identified by the police operate in the Helsinki metropolitan area and, to a lesser extent, in Turku. Gangs are often associated with a specific city district, but they engage in criminal activities in a large geographical area, even nationwide, and in this are not bound to a specific district. Through information networks, criminal activities have nationwide impacts, for instance in drug-related crime and scams.

It is a recent key finding that criminal networks in Finland have connections abroad and with other criminal networks. It is estimated that street gang members have increasing links to organised crime in Sweden, for example. The police engage in close national and international cooperation, particularly with the other Nordic countries, to prevent the activities of criminal networks.

What have the police done?

Since 2022, the police have intensified national cooperation in the fight against street gangs and harmonised the definition of street gangs, the identification procedure, investigation arrangements and information sharing between police units. 

In July 2023, an investigation team specialising in street gang crime was set up at the Helsinki Police Department, whose area of responsibility is mainly the Helsinki metropolitan area, without prejudice to the areas of responsibility of the police units. Since October 2024, the National Bureau of Investigation has been running an ‘Exit activity’, the purpose of which is to help break away from street gangs.

The police have identified members of street gangs and connections between gangs and gang members. On this basis, intelligence-driven actions have been targeted at identified persons and locations. Offences committed by street gang members have been brought to prosecution, and some offences have been prevented. 

What do the police think should be done now?

It is the considered opinion of the police that people are driven to street gangs above all because of social exclusion and lack of prospects. Substance abuse and other health issues may also contribute to ending up in a gang, and as a result actions to suppress gang culture are primarily taken by parties other than the police. The main point here is to prevent young people from drifting into street gangs by rendering criminal lifestyles less attractive and by offering more options of participating in society.

The police are taking this preventive action seriously, but action taken by the police is not enough. Cooperation between authorities and other operators is needed. From the perspective of the police, the goal is to prevent this phenomenon from worsening and becoming an established feature, and to break the cycle of violence and crime.

In the context of preventive work, the most effective approach is to focus on the young people who hover around street gangs and who are attracted by a criminal lifestyle. The police engage in multi-professional cooperation to this end, for instance in the preventive ‘Anchor’ work. 

The police exercise their authority and expertise in preventing street gang crime. The police aims to identify incipient spirals of violence and to intervene at an early stage, to investigate discovered offences and to bring the offenders to justice.

Other related topics

Multiprofessional Anchor-work in FinlandLink to an external websiteOpens in a new tab (you're going to a new website)