Following in father’s footsteps

Superintendent Elina Katajamäki
National Police Board, Advisory Staff

I was never meant to be a police officer. As a child, I remember moaning about how my father, who was a Senior Constable and then a Sergeant, always took the car to work at weekends so that the rest of the family could not go to visit my grandparents or to the public pool. Even after the army, I swore that I would do anything but join the police. Life took me to Tampere, and I graduated from Tampere University with the intention of pursuing a career in journalism.

I spent three years working as an editor on the Finnish Broadcasting Company’s legendary Police TV show. I met dozens of police officers on the show and had to admit to myself that I was jealous. I could see the similarities between the two careers – police and journalist – but I felt that my personal ethics were more aligned with those of police work.

Studying later in life is great. Everything that the lecturers say finds a connection with something in your brain that you already know. I loved learning at the Police University College and made the most of my time there.

My practical training included a stint in long-term criminal investigation and I returned to it after my graduation. The best thing about police work for me is questioning suspects in whatever language. That could be because I like people and interacting with people in general.

My career with the police has thrown me in many different directions: my employment history is an excellent example of how varied police work can be. I have worked as Chief of Communications at Lapland Police Department and in internal security at the Ministry of the Interior. At the National Police Board, I have been responsible for, among other things, the development of the police’s operational communications.

Since I enjoy being a mature student so much, I have also been working part-time on a master’s degree in administrative science at the University of Lapland. My next challenge is the commanding officers’ training course: I enrolled in the Police University College’s Master of Police Services programme in 2019. Leadership training will give me yet another perspective on police work!