Police Blog

Are the police the only party whose duty it is to prevent domestic violence?

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:28:00 GMT

I work as the head of Crime Prevention at the National Police Board. I have been following the news about domestic violence and have been amazed at the narrow perspectives concerning the prevention of domestic violence.

In the news article published in newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on 9 February 2026, Mikko Puumalainen, Assistant Chancellor of Justice of Finland, stated that Finnish legislation does not currently provide adequate protection for the victims of domestic violence, and the proposed solution was to amend the legislation concerning the pre-trial investigation.

Is it really so that a reform of the Criminal Investigations Act, which regulates the investigation of crimes that have already been committed, is being proposed in order to improve the effectiveness of the prevention of domestic violence? Are the keys to combatting domestic violence in the hands of the police, the pre-trial investigation process and the criminal process?

The social task of the police

The role of the police in combatting domestic violence is important, and there is clearly room for improvement in police operations. The National Police Board has recently issued a new guideline concerning the prevention of domestic violence (in Finnish). The guideline deals with the responsibilities of both field patrols and the criminal investigation process. It is clear that the guideline in itself does not bring about any change in the operations, but it requires the implementation and monitoring of the relevant matters, and the work also needs people to do it.

It is the task of the police to investigate crimes, hold the perpetrators criminally responsible and break the cycle of crime. In the investigation of crimes, the role of the police in society in relation to other parties is unambiguous; the responsibility for the investigation of crimes has been assigned to the pre-trial investigation authorities. The police must also take the necessary measures to prevent domestic violence, above all through personal protection measures as well as the prevention and detection of crimes, but these measures already require some degree of concrete indication of the possible crime.

Coercive measures and intelligence gathering powers provided for by law may also be used in the investigation and prevention of criminal offences, but their use must be necessary specifically for the purpose of investigating or preventing an offence. As an example, arrest and remand cannot be used solely for protection purposes. Since coercive measures interfere with objects of legal protection safeguarded as fundamental and human rights, the use of coercive measures is a last resort and their duration must be limited to a minimum, in other words until the objective of solving the crime has been achieved or the crime has been prevented.

Are criminal investigations, the use of coercive measures and the criminal process the only solution offered by society to combat domestic violence? Does the victim’s need for help begin only when the crime has already been committed or perhaps even before that?

What is the ability of society to address the root causes of domestic violence?

Domestic violence usually comes to the attention of the police when the police respond to an emergency call or when the victim of the crime reports the matter to the police. In many cases, there has been violence for a long period of time before the police learn about the events. The root causes of domestic violence may include substance abuse problems, mental health problems or other life management difficulties.

The pre-trial investigation process and the criminal procedure are not corrective processes; instead, their purpose is to ensure criminal liability. It is obvious that the victim of a crime must also be referred to the relevant services in connection with the pre-trial investigation to receive corrective help. The essential thing is that help is available and that the person is supported in understanding the importance of help and that the person commits themselves to the process in question.

However, addressing the root causes must be separated from the criminal investigation as soon as possible. The criminal process should not play the main role in a situation where the victim primarily needs help to manage their life, make a decision to divorce or stop using intoxicants. The root causes are not eliminated by a restraining order, pre-trial arrest and remand, or a prison sentence. Moreover, the support and services needed by a victim of a violent crime should not depend on whether the matter comes to the attention of the police, whether there are prerequisites for a pre-trial investigation or other powers of the police, or whether the matter makes progress in the criminal process.

Society must also provide processes for addressing the root causes of domestic violence. It is equally important to intervene in the prevention of violence against other vulnerable groups of people, such as children and the elderly. In addition to having effective operating models - such as risk assessment tools - the roles, responsibilities and obligations of the different parties must also be clearly defined. The efforts must be managed and supervised. Due to their social significance, preventive efforts must be the responsibility of the authorities, local administration and wellbeing services counties to the extent possible. In this way, it is also possible to enhance the powers and forms of co-operation that may be needed by different authorities. The police have and must have a small role in intervening in the causes of domestic violence.

In conclusion

The Government Programme of Finland states that the need for legislation that obliges the prevention of domestic violence and strengthens local, regional and nation-wide structures for combatting violence will be assessed. This reform will hopefully create structures for the prevention of violence. On the other hand, it should be noted that a lot of things can already be done. As an example, the Social Services Act states that the wellbeing services county and local authorities must work together to monitor and promote the wellbeing of people in need of special support as well as to eliminate shortcomings and prevent them from arising. At the moment, however, it is unclear what the role and responsibility of parties such as domestic violence co-ordinators working in local administration are in the prevention of domestic violence.

It would be justified that Finland, just like Sweden, would have legislation that regulates preventive efforts. This legislation would define the responsibilities of the different parties, such as local administration, wellbeing services counties, crime prevention authorities and parties involved in the criminal process. This would also enable the monitoring of the effectiveness, economy and profitability of the efforts.

Ensuring the security of an individual is part of overall security in society, and it should not be left to the criminal process alone.

Help is available

If you have become or are afraid of becoming a victim of domestic violence, or if you are afraid of committing violence in a close personal relationship or have already committed it, read the guideline of the police on the Poliisi.fi website.

]]>

The use of alpha-PVP can also be seen in road traffic

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:34:00 GMT

Abstract

The synthetic narcotic alpha-PVP, which has rapidly become more common in Finland, has turned into a visible phenomenon in recent years, both on the streets and in the work of the police. The increase in the use of the substance is reflected in an increase in police assignments as well as related crime and disturbances, which are directly reflected in insecurity experienced by people in their everyday lives.
Alpha-PVP has been classified as very dangerous, and its use is also increasing in road traffic, where suspected cases of driving while intoxicated, related to the use of alpha-PVP, are recorded more and more often. In most cases, alpha-PVP is not the only drug used, but it is combined with other intoxicants.
The drug problem in Finland affects the whole of society and is not limited to just one intoxicant. Alpha-PVP is just the tip of the iceberg in a rapidly diversifying world of drugs, where new designer drugs are emerging alongside traditional substances. Even though the police conduct active enforcement and investigative work, solving the drug problem requires the contribution of the whole society: legislative reforms, faster exchange of information, consolidation of substance abuse treatment services, and preventive work, especially among young people.

Nearly 60 per cent of those suspected of driving while under the influence of narcotics were caught through the active, spontaneous enforcement efforts of the police. The increasing use of narcotics in society can also be seen in road traffic. The profile of drug use in cases of driving while under the influence of narcotics is not exactly the same as that shown by wastewater studies by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. The implementation of enforcement by the police takes into account changes in society in terms of drug use. As an example, the use of alpha-PVP is also visible to an increasing degree in the everyday work of the traffic police. In most cases, however, alpha-PVP is not the only narcotic used by the driver of a vehicle.

The use of alpha-PVP has increased rapidly

The synthetic narcotic alpha-PVP (alpha-pyrrolidine valerophenone, known in public discussion in Finland with the Finnish name “peukku”) is found in all EU member states. The use of this drug has increased rapidly in Finland in recent years. However, alpha-PVP is not a new substance. It entered the market originally just over ten years ago as a so-called designer drug. In Europe, alpha-PVP was seized for the first time in France in the spring of 2011. It was classified as a narcotic in Finland less than three years later at the end of 2013 by a Government Decree (1098/2013), and in the EU as late as in the summer of 2016.

The wastewater studies by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) can be used to assess the total consumption of narcotics at the population level, as well as trends in use and regional differences. According to the wastewater studies, the total consumption of narcotics in general has increased over the past two years throughout Finland. Amphetamine is still the most common narcotic in Finland, with the exception of the Helsinki metropolitan area, where cocaine is used more than amphetamine. Based on statistical data by Finnish Customs, the nation-wide drug situation has deteriorated greatly and rapidly. Finnish Customs have seized a record amount of narcotics this year. The amount of drugs seized by the end of September was more than five times as high as four years ago. The amounts of seizures of conventional narcotics are high, and in addition to them, narcotic medicines and new designer drugs previously unknown in Finland are imported into the country. According to Hannu Sinkkonen, Enforcement Director at Finnish Customs, many substances that are at least as dangerous or more dangerous than alpha-PVP have already been found in Finland. New drugs, which have not even been classified as narcotics in Finland yet, are constantly flowing into Finland. Alpha-PVP also came to Finland when its use was not prohibited.

According to Annuska Dal Maso of the Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention EHYT, Finland is an amphetamine country. She says that the Greenlight operation may have contributed to the arrival of alpha-PVP in Finland when the supply of amphetamine decreased rapidly. One of the most significant reasons for the rapid increase in the use of alpha-PVP is related to its suitability for substitution use specifically with amphetamine. Alpha-PVP has replaced the use of other, more conventional drugs, and it is very likely that many abusers of amphetamine have switched to using alpha-PVP alone. The role of alpha-PVP in drug trafficking is relatively small on an international scale, but the demand for the substance in Finland is disproportionately great.

Another important reason for the exceptionally rapid growth in the use of alpha-PVP is related to the diversity of its use. Unlike many other drugs, alpha-PVP can be used in virtually any way: by smoking, vaporising, inhaling, injecting intravenously, sniffing, ingesting as well as absorbing through the mucous membranes in the mouth. Alpha-PVP is also used by “vaping”, in other words with e-cigarettes, which has contributed to the popularity of the substance, especially among young people. Smoking alpha-PVP may be considered a bit like smoking a cigarette, and it has been said to be trendy. The feeling may also be “softened” in the end with alcohol, among other things.

The abuse of alpha-PVP is continuous, which is reflected in wastewater studies as uniform residue amounts on different days of the week. However, regional differences with drugs are great, and this is also the case with alpha-PVP. Both the amounts of drugs and the substances used vary between different parts of Finland. According to Teemu Gunnar, Chief Specialist and Head of Forensic Toxicology at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the amounts of drugs used in big cities in Southern Finland are much greater than in many smaller towns. The wastewater study reveals that the use of alpha-PVP has increased clearly in the Helsinki metropolitan area as well as in Southern and Southwestern Finland. In the Helsinki metropolitan area, the amounts have increased as much as fivefold since 2022. Alpha-PVP has hardly been detected in Northern and Eastern Finland.

According to Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol, Europe “is drowning in drugs”. Alpha-PVP is imported into Finland from abroad, especially from China, but it is also manufactured in Europe and even in different parts of Finland. Typically, however, the substance comes to Finland from outside the borders of Finland. Partly due to domestic production, there is a lot of the substance on the market and readily available. Alpha-PVP has been manufactured in ordinary apartment buildings. These kinds of “laboratories” pose a serious danger to their neighbourhood.

Agitation, aggressiveness and unpredictable behaviour

In its precedent KKO 2018:76, the Supreme Court of Finland has defined alpha-PVP as a very dangerous narcotic. In its decision, the Supreme Court has assessed alpha-PVP to be as dangerous a narcotic as amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone). The substance resembles amphetamine, among other things, but is much more potent than it.

Alpha-PVP is pharmacologically in the group of stimulants. Its effects are similar to those of cocaine and amphetamines. All of these are grossly agitating drugs. Alpha-PVP is an extremely powerful stimulant. It stimulates the central nervous system intensely, possibly causing a euphoric state in the user. It can sharpen the senses, boost self-esteem and refresh momentarily. In the case of alpha-PVP, the pleasure spike only lasts a for a short period of time, but it is extremely high, and it causes hallucinations. According to Ulriika Sundell, Medical Director of the A-Clinic Foundation, alpha-PVP also increases physical activity: it is difficult to stay still, and users become hyperactive and restless in their movements. The drug works in the body for several hours, but the effects are of short duration, which is why the user will very soon need a new dose. A short duration of effect increases the amount of use of the substance rapidly. The dose depends on the method of use, but even a small amount of the drug causes strong effects. Even though a dose of alpha-PVP has a short duration of effect, the substance is particularly dangerous due to its long-term effects. The use of alpha-PVP increases blood pressure and heart rate and causes agitation, anxiety, sleeplessness, delusions, psychosis, violent behaviour and cognitive problems. Possible consequences of an overdose of Alpha-PVP include convulsions, unconsciousness, aggressive raging, hyperthermia and cardiac arrest. The substance has a very individual effect on different persons, but on the whole it makes its users unfit quite quickly. According to Margareeta Häkkinen, Chief Clinician at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the adverse effects are affected more by how much substance the user has in their body rather than the way in which the substance has been used.

Finnish drug education has long emphasised that drug users do not usually pose a danger to anyone other than themselves. However, alpha-PVP makes people behave differently than many other intoxicants. Authorities have started to warn the public about the dangers of alpha-PVP as it makes its user aggressive and unpredictable. The psychotic behaviour caused by the substance is strongly extroverted, and the person is often very agitated. The delusions can also be so intense that it can be difficult to get the user to calm down. Those who have used alpha-PVP, when they are in a confused state, do not necessarily understand what they are doing. Compared to other drugs, the adverse effects of alpha-PVP are very challenging not only for the police but also for anyone else who has to deal with a person under the influence of the substance. Unpredictable adverse effects create a particular occupational safety risk for the police, emergency medical services and other operators, among others.

The use of alpha-PVP can also be seen in the work of the traffic police

The rise in the use of alpha-PVP has also affected police duties. From the point of view of police assignments, the consequences of the rapid increase in the use of alpha-PVP are associated with the very serious adverse effects of the substance and the consequent increase in criminal offences related to its use. In line with the rapidly increasing use of alpha-PVP, the number of calls with the emergency response centres to reach the police, related to the substance in one way or another, has increased dramatically during 2025. The substance has increased property crime and violent crime, as well as the need for the police to make preparations for unpredictable violence. As an example, the Helsinki Police Department has received a lot of feedback on disturbances and feeling of insecurity caused by substance abuse. Most of the disorders are related to drug use and related crime. The increasing use of drugs also increases other crime significantly.

Between January and October this year, the police have uncovered a total of about 12,600 suspected offences of driving a vehicle while intoxicated. Of these, about 4,200, or one third, have been recorded as having occurred in June to August. The share of driving under the influence of narcotics was about 32 per cent during the summer months. In October, narcotics cases accounted for 40 per cent of suspected cases of driving while intoxicated. The differences between different months are not great, but in the summer months, driving while under the influence of alcohol is more commonplace than at other times. During January to October, the police recorded about 4,500 suspected cases of driving under the influence of narcotics in the whole of Finland, and about 1,400 from June to August (excluding Åland).

The use of alpha-PVP can also be seen to an increasing degree in the work of the traffic police. By driving a motorised vehicle under the influence of alpha-PVP, a person is guilty of driving while intoxicated or driving while seriously intoxicated (Chapter 23, Sections 3 to 4 of the Criminal Code, 1998/2002). Based on queries made from the information systems of the police, in June to August last summer the police encountered more than 100 suspected offences of driving while intoxicated, which also included a suspicion of driving a vehicle under the influence of alpha-PVP. This year, roughly 50 to 60 per cent more suspected offences of driving while intoxicated that were more or less related to the use of alpha-PVP have been recorded in the police systems than in 2024. The number of suspected cases has been at a record high level since June. The number of cases has increased year by year, which means that alpha-PVP is increasingly associated with offences of driving while intoxicated. Indications of the use of the substance come to light at least through the enforcement efforts of the police, and other narcotics crimes may also be uncovered this way.

In general, stimulants may even improve the driver’s ability to concentrate and reduce fatigue by stimulating the central nervous system, but on the other hand, they can increase aggression and risk-taking. The effects on the central nervous system are accentuated when stimulants are used in combination with drugs that suppress the central nervous system (such as cannabis) and sedatives.

A suspected offence of driving while intoxicated is usually also associated with an offence of illegal use of a narcotic drug and unauthorised operating of a vehicle, in other words driving without a driving licence. As early as almost ten years ago, these offences were most often included in criminal reports related to alpha-PVP, when the matter was analysed in a thesis of the Police University College. The frequent occurrence of these three offences in the same criminal report is very likely due to the nature of the offences in question. When the police perform an instant drug test on the driver of a vehicle and the test result is positive, the driver is taken for blood tests. These offences are recorded as driving while intoxicated and as illegal use of a narcotic drug in the criminal report. It is also often the case that the drug user has already lost their right to drive earlier, in which case an offence of unauthorised operating of a vehicle is also recorded in the crime report.

As many as 85 per cent of drivers suspected of driving while intoxicated or seriously intoxicated during the summer, also with verified alpha-PVP in their blood, did not have a valid driving licence. In most cases (in about 75% of the cases), alpha-PVP was not the only narcotic under the influence of which the suspected driver had been driving a vehicle. Mixed use of drugs is common among alpha-PVP users. It is therefore commonplace for the driver to have used also amphetamines or medicines classified as narcotics in addition to alpha-PVP. Clinical data in Finland indicates that alpha-PVP is often used with amphetamines. On the road, amphetamine or cannabis, for example, may have shown up in an instant drug test, and the use of alpha-PVP has been revealed later as a result of a blood test. The suspect may have appeared to be intoxicated and sometimes even told about the use of alpha-PVP. Sometimes alpha-PVP paraphernalia are found in the vehicle or in the suspect’s possession, which gives a strong indication of the use of the drug in question.

Nearly 60 per cent of the suspects were caught through the active, spontaneous enforcement efforts of the police. The enforcement may have taken place in the form of general traffic surveillance, surveillance by means of unmarked police vehicles, stop checks to reveal driving while intoxicated, or other general supervision of order and security. In the summer, the occurrence of the suspected offences varied greatly depending on the day of the week and the time of day. Those caught driving while intoxicated were encountered equally as often in the middle of the night and at nine in the morning as well as Monday and Saturday.

Alpha-PVP is commonly used mainly by abusers of intoxicants. They have severe addiction problems, the dependence on alpha-PVP is intense, they are marginalised, they do not have a job, and they may not even have a home. The majority, more than 80 per cent, of those who were suspected of driving a vehicle while intoxicated and who had also used alpha-PVP were men. In terms of age, the suspects represented a wide age range, from young people in their twenties to those almost 70 years of age, with the average age being approximately 35 years. The most typical age group (25 per cent of all) was those aged 28 to 30. About 15 per cent of the suspects were unemployed or had no occupation at all. It is true that drug addiction is not associated to issues such as any specific level of education, but a weak social status and a low level of education can be seen among those caught driving a vehicle under the influence of alpha-PVP.

In addition to monitoring drug users occurring in traffic, the police also refer drug users to substance abuse treatment. Getting help for those suffering from drug addiction is in the interest of all of us. According to the view of the police, it is very important and the primary challenge for all that the entire chain of referral to treatment works well.

The whole society to solve the problem

The use of intoxicating substances represents typical behaviour of the human species. In principle, substance use is common, it affects society extensively, and it is not just an issue concerning a marginal group. Many types of people use drugs, although drug addicts, or individuals with a drug problem, are a unique group.

The police endeavour to prevent the disadvantages and insecurity caused by alpha-PVP. In the summer, the police uncovered a major operation to manufacture and distribute alpha-PVP in Finland. The case is being investigated as several aggravated narcotics offences. At the beginning of November, the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department announced that together with Customs and through international co-operation it had uncovered an exceptionally extensive organisation for the import and distribution of narcotics. This international organisation is suspected of having smuggled and distributed hundreds of kilograms of narcotics, including alpha-PVP.

Alpha-PVP has been in the eye of public debate in Finland over the past year. Even though the use and problems of cocaine and alpha-PVP are often covered differently in media, legally they are pretty much the same thing. Sakari Melander, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Helsinki, has stated that from a legal point of view, social control through criminal law, if it is to be used, should be targeted equally at all drug users, regardless of the substance used. Also from the point of view of the police, alpha-PVP is just one narcotic among many others. There has been a continuous drug problem in Finland for years, and alpha-PVP is just the tip of the iceberg. It just makes the drug problem visible. Solja Niemelä, Professor of Addiction Medicine at the University of Turku, has stated that this is a long-term choice in substance abuse policy. Even if alpha-PVP could be completely eradicated from the streets, the widespread drug problem would not disappear. The amphetamine shortage that prevailed a few years ago no longer exists, and now there are both amphetamine and alpha-PVP on the market. According to Annuska Dal Maso of EHYT, alpha-PVP is so potent that amphetamines no longer have much effect on many users.

Drug abuse is closely linked to many other social and health problems as well as to general disorder and criminal behaviour. Recent public debate has shown that the deterioration of the drug situation is now widely reflected in society as a whole. According to the Police Barometer, Finns are concerned about the use and sale of drugs in public places, even more so than about organised crime, gang crime or driving while intoxicated.
The effects of alpha-PVP can be seen on the streets, in hospitals and in the news headlines. Hannu Sinkkonen of Finnish Customs has stated that society will become much less safe if the situation with alpha-PVP expands further. There is a need for multifaceted solutions, better exchange of information, legislative solutions, better services and changes in attitudes in society to the problems caused by the drug. In other words, there is not just one solution. Drug use and the related increase in other problems is a long-term and deepening social phenomenon. National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki has stated that the operating environment of the police has changed, and drugs are everywhere. He has proposed that an overall survey be conducted to study the drug situation in Finland and to assess the measures. Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen has stated that the police are doing everything in their power to combat the phenomenon, which is evidenced by the fact that the amounts of seizures of alpha-PVP have been increasing. The police have intervened in the increased sale of drugs in public places and forwarded users to have proper treatment. However, the police alone cannot solve the problem, but the support of the whole society is needed for this. The situation cannot be solved by a single authority or party. Annuska Dal Maso is now building a system where the police, Customs, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and professionals working with drug users could exchange information quickly. In this way, information about new dangers in the drug market could be obtained quickly and it would be possible to react to them immediately by providing help and allocating resources. It should be possible to intervene in substances such as alpha-PVP at the right time before the situations escalate and the use of substances increases. According to Hannu Sinkkonen, the solution would be to amend the legislation so that it would identify generally hazardous products that are known to be dangerous but have not yet been classified as narcotics or medicines. In this case, an administrative decision could be used to dispose of also new drugs before they end up on the streets and for consumption.

It is also a question of attitudes; we need more understanding of the dangers of drugs. This should be emphasised especially in education directed at children and young people. There is a great need for preventive work aimed at young people in particular, in an era when attitudes towards drugs have become more positive in Finland and internationally.

]]>

Internship in the police: what is it like to do communication work in different parts of the police?

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 10:02:00 GMT

Communication trainees Jesse Sironen, Venla Rinne ja Henriikka Nieminen.

Students Jesse Sironen, Venla Rinne and Henriikka Nieminen worked as university trainees in communications in different parts of the police organisation. In this blog post, they describe what their internship entailed.

From strategic planning to social media posts

Who: Jesse Sironen
Studies: Second year in the Master’s programme in communication studies at Tampere University
Internship: In the National Police Board’s communications from May to October 2025

“You can be a free radical.” This is the description that my supervisor used at the beginning of my internship when we talked about what kind of tasks each person is responsible for in the communications function of the National Police Board, and the discussion ended up with the tasks that were intended for me.

Now, towards the end of my internship, I can say that that description was quite accurate, because during the past six months I have been able to participate in many kinds of tasks. I have become familiar with the development of the digital customer service of the police, organising media events as well as formulating and implementing press releases and social media posts.

In addition, I have had the opportunity to co-ordinate various internal networks and working groups of the police. The network of university trainees in all police communications (viesko network) deserves to be mentioned in particular here. With this network, we were able to visit the police command centre in Helsinki, and we organised interesting guest lectures in which various authorities and a representative of journalistic media presented their own communications or some related phenomenon. We were given a completely free hand to plan and implement these lectures, and the end result was also commended by participants outside the network.

The best things about my internship were that I had the opportunity to be very extensively involved in the communications of the police at large and I was also given a suitable amount of responsibility right from the beginning. I also felt that the police wanted to hear my opinions and views on various issues and that the views were also well taken into account. Moreover, I consider that the operating environment of police communications is very interesting, and this allowed me to work with tasks such as making advance preparations for communications as well as operational communication. There are not many places where trainees get to be involved in such areas of communication.

I can warmly recommend everyone to make an application for a university internship at the National Police Board. The National Police Board has university trainees from several fields in various positions, so there are great many opportunities. Vacancies available at the police can be found on the valtiolle.fi website.

Communication as a vantage point to the police organisation

Who: Venla Rinne
Studies: Last phases in Master’s studies in communication at the University of Jyväskylä
Internship: In the communications function of the Eastern Finland Police Department from June to September 2025

Many people say that an internship often shows you clearly, one way or another, what you want to do in the world of work in the future. In my case, I realised during my internship in police communications that I do not think I want to be a communicator but a police officer. Or you never know, it may turn out so well that at some point in my career I may have both degrees and the road would lead me to become a communicator in the position of a police officer. That would allow me to combine many things that feel like my own, things that I already saw during this internship to be both versatile and interesting.

I have been involved in many things during my internship, from the back seat of a police car to a police boat and from communicating about different phenomena to the event communications of the Police Day. The communications of the Police Department include a wide range of tasks at the levels of work community communication, civic communication and stakeholder communication. I have been able to do most of these myself and to follow these issues in the daily work of the top professionals of our team. During the summer, my own to-do list covered things like making videos, which gave me the opportunity to familiarise myself with police operations on a very practical level. I have become familiar with different sectors, units and job descriptions when I have been able to record video of the employees of the police organisation working in different positions.

Communication has been an excellent vantage point over the entire organisation. This is the place where you can really work together with anyone, because our tasks come from all parts of the police organisation. I have been able to do highly varied tasks here, but at times I would have liked to get an even more hands-on approach and better understand the perspectives related to police work. Of course, good communicators need to be able to convey professionally matters that they do not necessarily know much about in advance, but I still feel that police communications also need an understanding of what really happens in everyday life and on police assignments out there and what are all the things that should be taken into account when communicating about it, both within the organisation and externally. That is where the idea of the Police University College originally came from. In the summer it was still more of a joke, but towards the end of my internship it was no longer just a funny idea when I realised that I must be quite serious about that plan. Now it seems that when I close the work computer, I will open the admission exam book and add bench presses to my training programme.

The biggest downside of the internship has been the too short time that I was able to spend here in the communications office, and the mandatory days off – towards the end of my internship I tried to justify why it would be quite okay for me to come to work even when I was supposed to have a day off, but I didn't quite get this message through. Being a little jealous of my fellow trainees at the end of my internship and while they are still continuing to work, I have said many times that I would have enjoyed working in this job for longer. Maybe one day I will find myself on the payroll of the police. It remains to be seen what position I will be in.

Diverse and educational months as a communications trainee in the police

Who: Henriikka Nieminen
Studies: Last year of media studies at the University of Tampere
Internship: In the communications function of the Central Finland Police Department from April to October

My long-awaited first job in my own field of study was finally reality when I found out in the winter that I had been accepted as a communications trainee at the Central Finland Police Department. I had been thinking for a long time that I would be interested in doing communications within an authority, so this internship was especially pleasant for me. What I expected most from my internship were interesting and versatile work tasks and that I would be able to develop as a communicator as much as possible. Now, at the end of my internship, I can say that these expectations were indeed fulfilled.

My most typical tasks have been writing press releases, doing communications within the workplace community and creating content for the police department’s social media channels. In addition to this, during the internship I also got to participate in the Police Day event and its arrangements, helped organise two press conferences and participated in police communications for the Finnish round of the World Rally Championship.

One of the best things about the internship were the many things I got to do, see and experience during it. As early as on my first days at work, I was told that during the internship I would be able to do all the same things that even the permanent communicators of the police department do. This came true, and through it I have gained a lot of valuable experience in terms of issues such as my future work. The attitude towards me here has been that they have wanted to show and teach me as much as possible during the internship, which has been great. I have been given responsibility, but I have also always received help if I have needed help. During the internship, I have gained a lot more confidence in what I do.

While working in police communications, I have also learned a lot about the entire police organisation. As a communications worker, you get to deal with many different things related to police operations and people working with different tasks. This has broadened my view of the entire organisation.

I can warmly recommend a university internship in police communications. Here you can challenge yourself and be involved in diverse and socially significant communication.

]]>

The police in Finland use firearm with deliberation and on rare occasions

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 07:16:00 GMT

The Finnish police use firearms on rare occasions. Even though individual situations involving the use of force sometimes receive a lot of public attention, it is important to examine the use of firearms by the police through statistics and changes in the operating environment, not just on the basis of headlines.

The police in Finland use a firearm on a very few occasions by international comparison

In Finland, the police have to discharge their firearm on an average of about 20 to 30 occasions per year in the course of their official duties. This figure includes situations in which targeted shots have been used to stop dangerous activities, including warning shots. It is therefore not only a question of situations involving the use of force where someone has been wounded or killed as a result of the use of a firearm by the police. In the long term, the number of cases involving the use of a firearm has remained stable, and incidents where a firearm has actually been discharged have not increased significantly.

Situations where the police threatens someone with a firearm and gives warning about the use of a firearm are also considered use of firearms by the police. These situations have increased considerably in recent years.

The use of a firearm by the police is extremely rare when proportioned to the approximately one million emergency assignments of the Finnish police per year. Finland’s figures are also exceptionally low in international comparison. This is due to factors such as the high level of police training. For the police, the use of a firearm is a last resort, and the police officers naturally try to avoid it until the very end. Every year, the police are able to solve many situations, which might involve the use of a firearm, with less dangerous means of force, such as a taser. The taser is used by the police about 500 times a year.

It is important to understand that simply taking out a police firearm or making it ready for action does not represent the use of a firearm in the legal sense. It is a question of preparing to use force in accordance with Chapter 2, Section 18 of the Police Act, not the use of a firearm.

The operating environment has changed

The operating environment of the police has changed clearly in recent years. Violent resistance to a public official has increased: in 2014, there were 1,559 cases, but by 2024 the number had gone up to 2,040. Between January and August this year, there has been an increase of more than 10 per cent compared to the previous year.

In addition, the police encounter an increasing number of situations involving self-harming or mental health disorders. In 2015, there were 11,619 such assignments, while in 2024 the number had risen to 18,443.

One alarming phenomenon is the rise in the use of synthetic narcotics, especially alpha-PVP. In these situations, the target person may behave unpredictably, violently and be almost immune to milder types of use of force, which increases the need for the police to prepare themselves more effectively.

The police have responded to the change in the operating environment

Cases where the police needs to threaten a target person with a firearm or give warning of the use of a firearm have increased over the past 15 years. According to the assessment of the police, this is not just a matter of improved statistics, but the increased number of related action is due to many things. The police encounter more knives and firearms in their duties than before. Some of the firearms later turn out to be real-looking replicas, such as pellet guns, but when the situation is ongoing, it is often impossible to know.

In recent years, the police have also focused on protective and use-of-force equipment for police personnel to meet the requirements of the changed operating environment. This can be seen in issues such as the fact that in addition to traditional pistols, the police have at their disposal supporting firearms, such as submachine guns or rifles, on their assignments to an increasing degree. As compared to the pistol, they are even safer for the target person and bystanders, because these weapons are capable of more reliable and accurate use of force.

The police have also become increasingly active in compiling statistics on the use of force more systematically than before. This is reflected as an increase in the statistics concerning the use of many types of force, even if the actual use of force has not changed significantly.

The use of a firearm is always a last resort and is done at a high threshold

Any incident that has led to injury to the target person of the police is always investigated by the Office of the Prosecutor General. This is never a routine procedure. A shooting can lead to legal proceedings and can also be a traumatic experience for an individual police officer.

The use of force is never without danger, whether it concerns physical restraint or the use of firearms. It is therefore important to point out that almost always the person who has to be subjected to the use of force has had the opportunity to refrain from violent or dangerous actions before the use of force by the police.

The discussion on the use of force by the police deserves statistical and factual examination. We cannot turn a blind eye to the risks that the police face in their work. Furthermore, we must not build a false picture of the everyday work of the police, where the police have to prepare for anything more and more often.

]]>

Promoting the road safety culture among young people requires action from society as a whole

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 05:08:00 GMT

Under the leadership of Minister Lulu Ranne, the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications has started to prepare reforms to the current Driving Licence Act. The focus will probably be on the exemption procedure, whereby an application for a special permit for a driving licence can be submitted as early as at the age of 17. That’s very good! The police have consistently wanted to draw the attention of legislators to the fact that an exemption permit should be a real exemption permit.

Statistics confirm the concern expressed by the police about the traffic behaviour of 17-year-olds

According to statistics on road traffic accidents by Statistics Finland, a total of 13 young 17-year-old drivers of passenger cars and vans died in road traffic in Finland in 2019 to 2024, while the corresponding number of deaths was one in 2013 to 2018 (see Figure 1). In 2019 to 2024, two more young people aged 17 years (total 10) died as passengers of passenger cars or vans than in the earlier period examined.

The number of traffic deaths among 17-year-olds has not increased in the same way in other modes of transport as in connection with passenger cars and vans during the periods in question. In 2013 to 2018, a total of twenty 17-year-olds died in road traffic, while in 2019 to 2024 the corresponding number was 34.

It can be speculated that if the age exemption system had not been introduced in 2018, the number of deaths among 17-year-olds in road traffic might have increased by a few at most – perhaps by 10 to 15 per cent – but not by 12 deaths, in other words by 70 per cent, as has happened now.

Figure 1 17-year-olds in different road user groups who died in road traffic in 2013 to 2018 and 2019 to 2024. Data: Statistics Finland.

Road traffic accidents and deaths typically involve traffic offences, which means that the tragic events are often preceded by one or more suspected traffic offences. Taking into account the size of the age group, the number of traffic offences among 17-year-olds began go up sharply from 2018 onwards, and the level of traffic offences committed by 17-year-olds has almost reached the level of offences in the next older age groups (Figure 2). Traffic offences typically involve causing a traffic hazard and causing a serious traffic hazard, which are largely due to speeding. According to the data of the Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI, almost half of fatal accidents involved speeding of at least over 10 km/h over the limit.

Figure 2 Suspected traffic offences among 17-year-olds and 18–20-year-olds per 10,000 persons belonging to the age group in 2015 to 2024. Data: Police and Statistics Finland.

The share of 17-year-olds in all road traffic deaths among those aged 15 to 24 has doubled when comparing the average relative shares in 2022 to 2024 and 2015 to 2017. The share was previously about 6 per cent, while in recent years it has been 11 per cent. There was a peak in 2020, when the share of 17-year-olds was as high as 27 per cent.

Attention in the improvement of traffic safety should be paid to the entire age group of young persons

When comparing the periods 2015 to 2017 and 2022 to 2024, traffic fatalities among young persons (aged 15 to 24) have decreased by about one quarter, but their share of all road traffic deaths has remained stable, at around 20 per cent (Figure 3). The share of other age groups has remained at slightly over 10 per cent, with the exception of young people, but also those aged over 75 years, whose share has risen slightly from around 15 per cent to 18 per cent.

Figure 3 Relative (%) age distribution of those died in road traffic accidents in 2015 to 2017 and 2022 to 2024. Data: Statistics Finland.

Not all young people are fully ready road users after receiving the right to drive. The risks associated with young drivers stem from factors such as inexperience and immaturity. Accidents involving young drivers are often related to speeding, driving under the influence of intoxicants, failure to use safety devices or swerving off the road, among other things, but these factors are actually reflections of adolescent’s actions, which are guided by other root causes.

According to research, risky behaviour is explained by attitude as well as by the underdevelopment of the brain of young people, especially young men. This underdevelopment contributes to young people’s readiness to take risks in traffic, which leads to serious accidents.

A small risk group causes a disproportionately big number of serious accidents. According to studies, the behaviour of this risk group in traffic is generally associated with a lifestyle coloured by antisocial behaviour, such as intoxicants, smoking and other risky types of behaviour.

Social pressure and friends who incite the driver are also associated with the risky behaviour of many young people in traffic. Fellow passengers are known to have a connection with the risky behaviour of young drivers in traffic and with the increased number of accidents.

How can we prevent young people from dying in traffic?

It is easy for the police to agree with the potential legislative changes that have been presented in public about the exemption for 17-year-olds to obtain a category B driving licence. Changing the current exemption procedure so that a 17-year-old could only be granted the right to drive for a special reason in clearly extraordinary situations would have a major impact on young people’s road safety.

The obligation to mark a passenger car driven by a person under a special permit is certainly a good thing, as is the night-time driving ban. It would also be justified to limit the number of people on board the vehicle, and related to that, to consider a model in which 17–18-year-olds should have a co-driver who is at least 25 years old during the first year of their driving licence.

A driving ban history and traffic offence history could prevent obtaining a category B driving licence with an exemption permit or at the age of 18. At the moment, the traffic offence history does not matter, but the police have found that in practice it is an indication of future traffic behaviour when driving a passenger car. It could also have an impact on traffic behaviour at a younger age, when adolescents would know that previous traffic offences matter if you want to have a category B driving licence.

In terms of driving health requirements, it would be a good idea to introduce a medical examination in connection with the issuance of the first driving licence and in connection with the renewal of the driving licence.

There are also many other good ways to prevent the deaths of young people in traffic.

Towards a culture of caring

Everyone’s life is important, and life must be protected. Even when enacting legislation, society has to consider the order of importance of objects of legal protection and also their weighting. We certainly cannot ignore research-based knowledge or methods that are known to be important for young people’s road safety and affect the underlying factors behind the root causes.

Traffic safety, both among young people and any other road users, is not just about following the rules – it is about caring: about yourself, your passengers and other road users. In accordance with the road safety strategy, this is something shared by the whole society. We as a society must build a culture where safety prevails over urgency or the need to show off.

Only then can we prevent unnecessary deaths and give young people the opportunity to grow up safely.

]]>

Be cautious online – cyber-enabled crime on the increase

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 10:07:00 GMT

What is cyber-enabled crime?

Mikko Kiiski: From the point of view of the police, one of the most typical criminal phenomena related to the online environment is cyber-enabled crime. These cases often represent various types of fraud, where the damaged parties are deceived into disclosing their confidential information by the perpetrator posing as an authority or, for example, as an employee of a bank. Deception also typically occurs between private individuals, for example, by using various instant messaging services. Investment, CEO and romance frauds are also unfortunately common ways of committing cyber-enabled crimes. Other offence types include money laundering offences, which are often associated with the above-mentioned fraud offences and with the concealment or transfer of the unjust proceeds obtained from them beyond the reach of the authorities.

According to the situation report on cyber-enabled crime, Finns lost more than 80 million euros in major cyber-enabled frauds in 2024. More than 84 million euros worth of offences have been identified in police reports.

The police have reacted to the trend in cyber-enabled crime

Due to the above-mentioned developments, the police have started to enhance the prevention of cyber-enabled crimes both nationally and internationally.

The most visible measure has been the national Cyber-Enabled Crime Investigation Unit established at the Central Finland Police Department in the spring of 2024. The Unit focuses on the prevention and investigation of cyber-enabled offences and the preliminary processing of related criminal cases. Moreover, the Investigation Unit assumes responsibility for investigations in criminal cases specifically assigned to it. The operations have focused on issues such as extensive criminal cases of a precedent type in terms of their modus operandi, where significant criminal proceeds have typically been achieved.

Because the phenomenon of cyber-enabled crime is complex by nature and constantly changing, it has been important to establish and develop a national and international notion of the situation. The role of the National Bureau of Investigation together with the police units is highlighted in this co-operation. Establishing a notion of the current situation is also done in co-operation with other authorities and the private sector.

Police units have been appropriately set up to carry out investigative efforts, and they participate in the nationwide network concerning cyber-enabled crime. The goal of this is to ensure that criminal cases can be addressed without delay and that the damage caused by crime can be minimised. The police have access to the powers laid down in the Coercive Measures Act and the Police Act for gathering information and preventing crimes.

Network-type co-operation across police departments is emphasised in the prevention of cyber-enabled crime. Cyber-enabled crime is also often international, and therefore the Finnish police have actively conducted international co-operation to identify new ways of committing crimes and prevent them. The Nordic countries are particularly important in this co-operation, not forgetting the expert services available from sources such as Europol and Interpol, and the utilisation of these services.

Finland is a trailblazer in international cyber-enabled crime prevention. As an example, a very significant number of so-called scam calls have been prevented every month by means of technical solutions, in co-operation with partners. This practice has continued for years.

Moreover, the police have regularly communicated about harmful and commonly occurring cyber-enabled crimes, with the goal of influencing citizens’ awareness and preparedness. Examples include various communication campaigns carried out in co-operation with other authorities.

Preventing, detecting and solving cyber-enabled crime requires joint efforts

Co-operation is in a key role in combatting cyber-enabled crime. It is clear that the police cannot independently prevent this harmful criminal phenomenon, which is why there is extensive co-operation with various authorities and the private sector. Some of the key parties that can be specifically mentioned are telecom operators and the financial sector. One area that needs to be considered in the future relates to the legislation concerning the parties that are engaged in cyber-enabled crime prevention. This can ensure an appropriate and effective exchange of information to prevent crime.

From the point of view of the police, the most effective and purposeful approach is to continue to endeavour to prevent crimes and the damage caused by them, with the damage being typically of a financial nature. It is equally as important to enforce criminal liability in an efficient and purposeful manner when a crime is committed. This development work will continue systematically.

Excellent results in preventing online fraud in Lapland

Pälvi Suokas: Various phenomena reach the north with a delay. We noticed in Lapland about three years ago that online frauds, which had become more common in southern Finland, had also arrived in Lapland. The resources are scarce in the north, and the long distances spread the existing resources far from each other. Separate investigation teams had been set up further down south to investigate online crimes. This was not possible in Lapland, but in the spring of 2024, we decided to pilot a procedure where a few investigators from a team that investigated these cases could focus on looking into petty frauds and frauds.

As soon as the pilot work started, we saw the positive impacts in the form of a decrease in the number of police reports filed. By the end of 2024, the number of property crimes filed by the Lapland Police Department had decreased by more than 400 from 2023.

We concentrated on investigating the cases in an offender-focused manner on different online marketplaces. We found that there were often only a few persons behind the crimes, each of whom had committed dozens of frauds, the worst ones more than 60 frauds! Background information on the perpetrators revealed problems caused by issues such as intoxicants or gambling. During the pre-trial investigation, we referred these persons to various support services.

Discussions with the perpetrators revealed that criminals had the impression that the police were not interested in investigating these types of “minor” crimes, and they assumed that online crime could easily make money without concrete consequences. Now we are using our resources to quickly get in touch with persons who have strayed into crime, especially those who have done so for the first time.

Good experiences led to the expansion of efforts

After six months, at the end of 2024, we decided to expand our operations not only to Rovaniemi but also to the entire area of the Lapland Police Department. The investigators also expanded the investigations from fraud committed on online marketplaces to all cyber-enabled crime. One example are cases of the type “Hello, this is Jaana from the Police in Muonio”, in which criminals deceive injured parties into disclosing various information by pretending to be an authority.

We have also actively communicated about scam attempts and new types of scams. For example, the tip line provides us with quick information from citizens about various ongoing scams, and we can immediately report them on social media. Communication has clearly had a preventive effect. One good example are scams directed at persons named Sisko (in Finnish).

Investigation of cybercrime requires new kind of expertise and an ability to react quickly

Scams change constantly, or a repeated scam has been developed further in some way. Certain themes keep repeating based on what the current trends for people are. Now, in the spring, the sales season of motorhomes, caravans and machines will start again, which means that there will probably be some kinds of scams related to these. Unsuspecting people are sold things that the seller does not really have.

Quick action is important in these types of crimes. That is why we added workforce to the pre-trial investigation group of crimes at the beginning of this year. They extracted these types of crimes from police reports filed online. Victims of fraud often feel ashamed when they realise that they have been cheated. In these cases, however, the action by the injured party should also be swift, and it is always advisable to report the crime. Focusing on the pre-trial investigation has intensified the operations, as the necessary initial measures can be performed and, in the best cases, even the money swindled from the injured parties can be recovered. By the end of March 2025, the investigation team had recovered proceeds of crime in the amount of more than 135,000 euros.

The investigation of online crimes requires new kind of expertise from the police. For this reason, it has been a well-functioning solution to provide training to all investigators, not just to those who have been designated to online crime cases. Competence is partly acquired by doing actual investigation work. We have considered it important that crimes are mainly investigated by a pair of investigators, so that no specific expertise is left down to an individual investigator.

In Lapland, these frauds are handled by the head investigators alongside their own work. They are motivated and understand the time pressure associated with these crimes. The use of coercive measures by the head investigators has been a key factor in the investigations. We have also started to enhance co-operation with the Prosecution District of Northern Finland. It is important that the police investigation process is uniform throughout the area and that the same uniform approach continues in the consideration of charges.

Many risks lurking for older people

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 11:54:00 GMT

Children and young people are particularly vulnerable groups in society. Of course, so are many others, such as various minorities or those struggling with diverse problems and challenges, as well as victims of repeated domestic violence. We should pay far more attention to all of this and to those affected.

While it is important for criminal liability to be realised, preventive measures can also be employed to prevent crimes. At the same time, we also need to pay attention to the prevention of recidivism and intergenerational crime. The toolkits of all authorities (not forgetting organisations) should include more tools for expertise and working together in this respect.

Safe and dignified old age is a human right

In this context, I would like to highlight older people, who are referred to in various expressions, such as the elderly, the aged, old-age pensioners or seniors. These people are honorary citizens who deserve to be treated well and in a dignified way, as well as to be provided with adequate care, support and assistance and to have their rights respected. In fact, everything that guarantees a safe old age. Are your skills and toolbox in order when it comes to the safety of the elderly?

We already know that the dangers of the online world and its scammers can affect anyone. One of the various predisposing factors involved is ageing, which means that not everyone always has the capability to sufficiently understand the dangers of the online world. This can also pose a problem for those who are used to trusting people. Scammers ruthlessly exploit such things.

We should also be more aware that the risks for the elderly can be much more than just the internet. Many things occur in the real world which, if not called out, remain hushed up in shame and hidden in sorrow. Elderly persons, let alone wartime children, are not fazed by minor things, and may not want it to be known that even their own children or grandchildren are abusing, blackmailing, menacing, stealing from or assaulting them, and who knows what else.

Sometimes these distressing matters involving immediate circles come to light and when investigated as crimes, it tends to turn out that various injustices have long been going on. When up against these issues, even experienced police officers are forced to uneasily reflect on the amount of hidden crime and how to detect it all. How can the rights of the ageing and a safe old age be better ensured?

We all need to pay more attention to our own immediate circles; a parent, grandparent, relative, neighbour – someone close. Call them, chat or meet up with them, ask them questions - listen and give them time. Various services for elderly persons should also devote more time and humanity. Good practices for individual wellbeing, service needs and functional capacity, etc. for mapping do exist.

Certainly, the authorities have their statutory responsibilities, but early intervention requires observations and information and bringing these to the attention of the authorities if and when concerns arise. A small tipoff, a social care notification or even a police report can result in the matter being taken further. In urgent cases, the emergency number 112 is the number to call. Something that you are aware of may already be urgent, so consider it a matter of honour to look out for elderly people in your own immediate circle - while you still can.

Read more on the website Support for the elderly - Police

]]>

Several successes in police traffic safety work in 2024

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 07:06:00 GMT

Traffic safety concerns the whole of society. The purpose of police traffic safety work is to maintain and promote general law-abiding behaviour on the roads and to promote traffic safety. It is influenced by legislation, traffic planning and enforcement.

Under chapter 1, section 1(1) of the Police Act (872/2011), the duty of the police includes securing the maintenance of public order and security, the prevention, detection and investigation of crimes, and submitting cases to prosecutors for consideration of charges. Traffic enforcement is an important part of ensuring public order and safety.

The credibility of traffic enforcement is enhanced by the success of the police in this duty. If the police are successful in their broader traffic safety work, road safety will improve and the police will have an impact on society. The Police Strategy 2024-2028 has prioritised improving the efficiency and effectiveness of police traffic safety work as one of the measures.

The number of police traffic enforcement measures, effectiveness indicators, the police's new traffic monitoring indices and the number of road traffic fatalities all indicate the credibility and success of police traffic enforcement last year. All the key figures mentioned have shown a positive trend compared to 2023.

The police contribute to reducing road deaths, in particular by targeting traffic enforcement on key risk factors. Reducing road deaths and serious injuries is a key social impact issue for the police and all actors in society. The Traffic Safety Strategy 2022-2026 has set an intermediate target of halving road deaths and reducing serious injuries by 2030 compared to the level in 2020. This means a maximum of 100 deaths in 2030.

Achieving this objective by 2030 will require significant additional efforts from all traffic safety actors in society. This means, for example, legislative work to promote traffic safety, safe roads and infrastructure, safe driving speeds, high quality and accessible paramedic services and safe vehicles. The police contribute to this objective through their traffic safety work. According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland, 171 people lost their lives in road traffic in 2024. The number of fatalities will rise when the figures are finalised, but the trend should continue to be positive. Unfortunately, however, the trend will not be as marked as has been the case in previous years.

Police monitor traffic every day of the year

Last year, the police focused traffic enforcement on factors affecting driving ability (including intoxicants, medicines, driving health and fatigue) and driving behaviour. Speeding and intoxicants continue to be the main risk factors involving road deaths. The police use analysis to target traffic enforcement in different areas and on different groups of road users at times when the data indicates that the highest risk of traffic crashes. Enforcement is also carried out randomly on a wide range of roads and at different times. This means that there is always a risk of being caught if the rules of the road are not respected. Whereas the police cannot control traffic everywhere and at all times, they do control it every day!

Last year, there were nine thousand more police traffic enforcement measures (excluding breathalysers) compared to the previous year. In enforcement of drink driving, the number of breathalyser tests alone was more than 78,000 higher. At the same time, the number of drink-driving offences reported to the police decreased. We might wonder about the role of increased enforcement in reducing the number of drink-driving offences. As noted above, intoxicants are a key factor in road deaths. Enforcement is a means for the police to influence a reduction in drink-driving. The number of deaths in drink-driving accidents has also been lower in the last couple of years than usual over the past decade.

The number of victims of drink-driving accidents is at its highest during the summer. The police carried out intensified drink-driving enforcement campaigns in July 2023 and 2024. Statistics Finland's road traffic accidents database show that drink-driving accidents in July between 2015 and 2022 almost invariably claimed at least 70 victims (76 on average). The number of people killed and injured in drink-driving accidents in July 2023 and 2024 fell sharply, amounting to around 40-50, compared to previous years. This can be seen as a strong sign that the targeting of enforcement has been successful.

In 2024, the number of serious road safety incidents reported to the police is expected to be close to the level in previous years. The number of automated traffic surveillance measures increased compared to 2023. Automated traffic surveillance is mainly speed enforcement. Because speeding is a key factor in road crashes resulting in death and serious injury, it is important to further strengthen and increase speed enforcement.

The police use a number of indicators to monitor their own traffic safety work. The police disturbance index has been much in the news in recent months. In addition to the disturbance and law enforcement indices developed in 2023, the police have created their own indices for traffic safety, the traffic enforcement index and the traffic offence index. Both these indices have shown a clear positive trend for the police in their traffic safety work.

In 2025, the police will continue to contribute to reducing road deaths by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their traffic safety work. Traffic enforcement will be specifically targeted at the above-mentioned risk factors that cause road deaths. This is because there have been no changes in the main risk factors for road fatalities and serious injuries since last year, even though the police have managed to reduce them. There is still work to be done by all those working in the field of traffic safety and we must also look at the space between the steering wheel and the driver’s seat.

Sources

Halmela, Tero: Road Policing: huumeita tiellä (narcotics on the road). Huumausainerikollisuuden paljastaminen liikenteen valvonnassa Sisä-Suomen poliisilaitoksessa (Detection of drug-related crime in traffic control at Central Finland Police Department). Thesis. Police University College 2016. https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/117854

Hyyti, Jari: Liikennepsykologia. Teoksessa Jasmin Kaunisto (ed.): Poliisityön psykologia (Traffic psychology. In Jasmin Kaunisto (ed.): Psychology of Policing). Police University College 2021, 117-182.

Kiiski, Kimmo & Tolvanen, Matti: Uusi tieliikennelaki 2020 (New Road Traffic Act 2020). Edita Publishing Oy 2021.

Rintamäki, Iivo, Huotari Vesa & Sutela, Mika: Vaikuttavuuden indikaattorit poliisin liikenneturvallisuustyössä (Indicators of effectiveness in police road safety work). Police University College reports 141. https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/746457

Statistics Finland: Road traffic accident database. https://tieliikenneonnettomuudet.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/Tieliikenneonnettomuudet/ (accessed 19 February 2025)

Statistics Finland: Statistics on road traffic accidents. Official Statistics of Finland (OSF). https://stat.fi/en/statistics/ton (accessed 28 January 2025)

]]>

Violence, disruptive behaviour and noise cause house calls for the police at New Year

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 07:59:00 GMT

At New Year, police duties include maintaining public order and security. After the New Year, we often get to read reports about how the authorities have been called out because of brawls and fireworks, for example. Safety in public places, such as restaurants and public events, is a hot topic at the turn of the year because of the side effects of New Year’s celebrations.

Domestic violence and other disruptive behaviour at home is less widely publicised over the first days of January. Restaurants and outdoor celebrations are more often associated with New Year’s Eve disturbances rather than celebrations in private premises, and the associated consequences.

A year ago, the topic of a column in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was how almost everyone gets frantic about New Year’s Eve. “Everyone wants to do something cool, but no one really seems to know what. -- One place offers relaxed hanging out with friends, another a party with dozens of people, and the third maybe something in between.”

A lot of house calls on New Year’s Day

In January, the Emergency Response Centre Agency announced that emergency response centres received a total of 14,200 emergency calls between 6 p.m. on 31 December 2024 and midnight on 1 January 2025. Approximately one half of these, that is, 7,000 emergency response tasks, were forwarded to the authorities.

43 per cent of the tasks were assigned to the police. The three most common emergency response tasks recorded in the emergency response centre information system for the police were: vandalism, a violation of the Public Order Act or other disruptive behaviour, domestic violence and an intoxicated person.

Although in public debate, Christmas is considered the time when violence occurs in Finnish homes and the police get numerous house calls, house calls and domestic violence are common over the New Year as well. According to police statistics, among all public holidays, the police handle the highest number of house calls specifically at the New Year.

In 2022–2024, the police got an average of 278 house calls on New Year’s Eve, of which approximately 35 per cent were primarily related to violence. On New Year’s Day, the average number of these tasks was 442, of which approximately 40 per cent involved violence. All in all, the police have attended to an average of approximately 720 house calls on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. About one fifth (18%) of all house calls are recorded between one and three o'clock at night on New Year’s Eve. Of individual holidays, house calls are clearly most common specifically on New Year’s Day.

The number of house calls varies by region

In relation to the population, in recent years (2022-2024), the police have received the most house calls at the turn of the year (per 100,000 residents) in Lapland, Kainuu and Northern and Southern Savo. The number of house calls has been lowest in Ostrobothnia, Uusimaa and Southwest Finland.

Of the 15 largest cities in Finland, the number of house calls at New Year per population (per 10,000 inhabitants) has been highest in Joensuu and Kuopio. The same cities are also at the forefront regarding the number of house calls involving violence. Of the large cities, the number of house calls due to noise has been highest in Vaasa and Jyväskylä. Of all municipalities, Kittilä has had the highest number of house calls, and especially those related to noise.

Regarding the statistics concerning house calls, it should be noted that not all tasks eventually involve domestic violence, for example, even if they were originally recorded in the systems as a house call related to violence. Sometimes people tend to exaggerate their neighbour's disruptive behaviour when calling the emergency services, in order to get the police to arrive quickly. In regional statistics, it should also be taken into account that the regions' population figures include the permanent population only and people having travelled to another region due to holidays and celebrations are not taken into account.

Midsummer and Christmas are also busy times for the police due to house calls

According to statistics, key holidays in terms of house calls also include Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day, All Saints' Day, Good Friday, Christmas Day and Epiphany. House calls due to disturbing noise are common particularly on All Saints' Day and Epiphany.

During the Christmas season, on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the police receive almost the same number of house calls in total as within 48 hours over the New Year. According to the Emergency Response Centre Agency, about one third (32%) of all emergency calls assigned by them were allocated to the police last Christmas. At that time, almost the same types of tasks as over the New Year, that is, vandalism or disruptive behaviour, domestic violence and other tasks related to individual protection were most frequent.

Sources

Hannus, Tanja: During Christmas, the police investigated a large number of house calls in Southeastern Finland –the background being the use of intoxicants. Yle News 27 December 2024. Poliisi selvitteli joulun aikana runsaasti kotihälytyksiä Kaakkois-Suomessa – taustalla päihteiden käyttöä | Etelä-Karjala | Yle

Emergency Response Centre Agency: 14,200 calls were made to the emergency number at the turn of the year. Press release 2 January 2025. 14,200 calls were made to the emergency number at the turn of the year - Emergency Response Centre Agency

Mikkilä, Lotta: At New Year, my circle of friends starts competing for party invitations. Column. Helsingin Sanomat 29 December 2023. Uutenavuotena kaveripiirissäni alkaa juhlakutsujen kilpailuttaminen | HS.fi

The Police: Helsinki Police is maintaining public order and safety in Helsinki on New Year's Eve. News item, 29 December 2023. Helsinki Police is maintaining public order and safety in Helsinki on New Year’s Eve

Rautanen, Sari: Fireworks were fired at people and buildings, one person suffered serious eye injury. Aamulehti 1 January 2025. Ilotulitteet työllistivät viranomaisia uutena vuotena - Aamulehti

]]>

Pedestrian crossing must live up to its reputation

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 13:17:00 GMT

Now that winter has come, with darkness and slippery streets, we must all be more alert to keep safe in traffic. The fact that it is dim or completely dark during most of the day makes a pedestrian crossing a dangerous place. Unfortunately, there have recently been several reports of incidents where a driver has hit a pedestrian on a pedestrian crossing, and two pedestrians have died. Every one of these accidents is one too many and could have be avoided.

In this blog post, I would like to point out a few facts that the police consider crucial to saving lives in traffic. I hope that each one of you pause to think about how you act in traffic, particularly on pedestrian crossings.

Visibility, attitude and driving speed have a key role on pedestrian crossings

Pedestrian visibility is ever more important in winter conditions, and a safety reflector is an excellent, easy and inexpensive means to increase visibility. The visibility of pedestrians wearing a safety reflector, as strongly recommended by the Road Traffic Act, is increased by up to tens of metres compared to those not wearing it.

It should be noted that, as drivers have a key role in ensuring safety on pedestrian crossings, a lot can and actually is expected from them.

A safe pedestrian crossing is not to be taken for granted

Drivers must give way to pedestrians who are on or about to step on a pedestrian crossing, but unfortunately this does not always take place. For their own safety, pedestrians should remember that although they have priority when on or stepping on a pedestrian crossing, they must also ensure that the driver sees them and has time to stop before they step on the crossing.

Drivers approaching a pedestrian crossing have a heavy responsibility

The Road Traffic Act provides that a driver approaching a pedestrian crossing must exercise special caution and drive at a speed that will allow them to stop the vehicle before a pedestrian crossing if necessary. Special caution means adjusting speed properly and being extremely alert. In the case law of the Supreme Court, in assessing special caution the Court has, besides highlighting the adjustment of speed, also emphasised the importance of preparing to give way. One should also remember that the stopping distance can multiply on slippery roads.

How to prevent accidents?

The police have a duty to actively conduct traffic surveillance and also intervene in situations involving the safety of pedestrian crossings, and in accidents and incidents. Besides surveillance, it is also our duty to remind everyone of their responsibilities and obligations related to traffic safety.

Drivers:

Reduce speed when approaching a pedestrian crossing.
Observe with special care pedestrian crossing surroundings and any pedestrians who might be coming from behind visual obstructions, such as parked cars.
Remember that winter conditions increase the stopping distance.

Pedestrians:

Use a safety reflector! Visibility is poor in the dark, rain and snowfall.
Ensure your own safety when stepping on a pedestrian crossing.
Be alert – regardless of the fact that law and regulations are on your side on a pedestrian crossing.

Police officers too often see the tragic consequences of traffic accidents. A pedestrian crossing is a place where everyone should feel safe. Darkness and winter conditions do not rule this out, but we must be extra careful and alert.

Together we can ensure safety on pedestrian crossings. By being considerate in traffic we can ensure that everyone gets home safe and sound.

Safe Christmas to everyone on the road, particularly on pedestrian crossings!

]]>

Are you a victim or perpetrator of violence or both?

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 09:04:00 GMT

Violence – in particular, domestic violence against women – is a serious problem in Finland.

What comes to mind when you think of violence or domestic violence? Most people probably think of hitting. The image often involves not only hitting, but also a fist and a black eye, or a knife, so that a single blow can lead to homicide. But what do you think causes violence? Have you ever given a thought to what underlies violence? Quite a few people seem to think that alcohol is the biggest contributing factor in the overall picture of violence in Finland.

In Finnish society, violence is mainly thought of as physical violence, when it results in visible injuries. Violent acts are often physical in nature, but they can also be mental. Violence can take the form of denial or neglect of basic needs or constant name-calling and disparagement or intimidation and coercion. Mental violence is often related to domestic violence and studies show that violent relationships usually involve more than one form of violence.

Other forms of violence include sexual violence, financial abuse, cultural or religious violence, honour-related violence, stalking, abuse, bullying, digital violence and dating violence.

In 2021, there were 10,900 victims of violence that came to the attention of the authorities (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL 2023, p. 3). However, domestic violence is a largely hidden offence, and only a fraction of those who have experienced domestic violence have contacted a doctor, police or other services, or have otherwise reported it. Violence in close relationships is most often violence that takes place in current or former relationships, most often against women.

34% of women and 18% of men have experienced physical violence or threats of physical violence in a relationship during their lifetime. In addition, 49% of women and 42% of men have experienced mental violence and 11% of women and 2% of men have experienced sexual violence in a relationship (Prime Minister's Office 2023, p. 18). 34% of women and 18% of men have experienced physical violence, intimidation or sexual violence from a current or former partner (Statistics Finland 2023, p. 17).

It is worth noting that far more women and men have experienced mental violence than physical violence. However, police investigations have rarely investigated mental violence. In general, mental violence is less well recognised by the authorities than physical violence, although many experts believe that mental violence is at least as harmful to the victim as other types of violence.

Violence should be seen as a broader issue, especially since physical violence can also include other forms of violence, which must be taken into account when dealing with a criminal matter in a police investigation. Investigation of physical violence must always take into account whether the act of violence was preceded or motivated by mental violence or some other form of violence or a combination of several forms of violence, without or in addition to physical violence.

Besides the authorities, various organisations do valuable work to combat violence and to help victims of violence. On top of this, work is done with perpetrators of violence to help them break out of the cycle of violence. In this context, we often talk about transgenerational violence, which can mean the experience and witnessing of violence as a child, which then becomes a learned and adopted behaviour pattern when facing adversities in life. A particularly valuable and under-recognised service is available to those who are afraid they will hit someone. That is, they have not yet hit, but they are afraid they will.

I urge you, if you are about to deal someone a blow, to put down your weapon, put your fist in your pocket and humble yourself in the face of your problem and seek the help that is available to you. At the same time, think about why you felt like hitting someone, and if it turns out to be because you are the victim of repeated mental violence, report it to the police while seeking help. No-one should have to put up with constant criticism, repeated disparagement or any other form of abuse. At the same time, we need to understand that violence never promotes or improves anything.

A new classification - mental violence - will be added to the police crime reporting system in 2025: Other related updates will also be made and will become separate guidance for the police.

Pekka Heikkinen
Chief Superintendent
National Police Board

Sources

THL statistical report 43/2023, Domestic violence 2021. 29.6.2023. [in Finnish only].
Shemeikka, R., Ramadan, F., Alitalo, E., Sihvonen, A., Lindroos, M., Laine, E., Kemppainen, J., Kommeri, H., Pietilä, P. & Salakka, I. 2023. Mediation in close relationship violence: General characteristics and the parties’ experiences with the process. Publications of the Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities 2023:11. Prime Minister’s Office. Helsinki.
Attila, H., Keski-Petäjä, M., Pietiläinen, M., Lipasti, L., Saari, J. & Haapakangas, K. 2023. Gender-based violence and close relationship violence in Finland 2021— Final report. Statistics Finland. Helsinki. [in Finnish only]

]]>

Crime prevention in villages, schools and increasingly online

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 08:24:00 GMT

The Finnish police have earned the trust and respect of citizens through their actions. This is backed up by various surveys on trust in authorities and institutions. The Finnish police also do well in international comparisons in terms of training and competence. Police operations are strongly characterised by fairness and various governance principles, which are well implemented in Finnish policing. Sometimes, of course, things do go wrong and mistakes are made, but we must learn from them. However, we need to keep in mind that each year the police deal with more than 1,100,000 emergency calls, around 800,000 police reports, including traffic matters, and more than 1,000,000 licencing matters. It would be something of a miracle if all of the more than 3,000,000 tasks were dealt with to perfection in an imperfect world.

I dare say that trust and respect for the police have been built up over the decades by the fact that ordinary uniformed police officers did practical work and were present face to face and approachable. Over the years there have been village, market, block, neighbourhood, school, youth and, more recently, internet police. Some of the names are official, others are popular, but it is local personalities and the images they create, the fun and good stories and chance that have earned the trust in today's police.

Police operate covertly and visibly in compliance with the law

Officially, police prevention work is laid down in section 1 of the Police Act, which sets out provisions on police duties, among others, as follows. “The duty of the police is to secure the rule of law; maintain public order and security; prevent, detect and investigate crimes; and submit cases to prosecutors for consideration of charges. The police work in cooperation with other public authorities and with communities and residents in order to maintain security, and they engage in international cooperation pertaining to their duties."

The Act requires the matters mentioned, such as prevention and cooperation. These are things that can be done to be visible and present, and to work together, so that trust can grow, as long as operations are fair and proper.

Today's world - things and people - is increasingly online. Since the police need to be where people are, the police are also online. The police operate visibly, but also invisibly. Just as traffic surveillance is visible, but also covert. A radar can be anywhere, not just in speed cameras. Crime has also gone online, to be prevented and exposed wherever criminals move and lurk - until they are caught, and through investigation end up in the dock and convicted.

The prevention operations of the police have changed and are increasingly becoming like those provided for in chapter 5 of the Police Act. This chapter addresses covert means of obtaining information. It is about telecommunications interception, technical surveillance, technical surveillance of a device, pseudo purchases, covert human intelligence services - in general, things that are done covertly from their targets. Some people might think whether the police can or should target these mysterious covert means at anyone - even at you? Well, they can't, and they mustn't, and they won't. There are plenty of shady online dealings and criminal activity so that ordinary citizens transacting properly online have no cause for concern.

Police ask for tip-offs on shady online dealings

The police are increasingly present online. Maybe not so much face to face, but accessible, nevertheless. The police are looking for approaches and tip-offs from the public on shady online dealings, for which they need help from society as a whole, including you. After all, the online world is something that is also covered by article 1 of the Police Act: "Work in cooperation with other public authorities and with communities and residents."

Leave an online tip-off to the police about suspicious activity you observe online: poliisi.fi/en/net-tip. There are several ways to submit crime-related tip-offs to the police, including by net and email, in addition to the online link. You can find all police stations on the poliisi.fi/en/leave-a-tip website.

Pekka Heikkinen
Chief Superintendent

]]>

Police traffic enforcement has a social effectiveness

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 06:22:00 GMT

The police have carried out enhanced enforcement of impaired driving during the month of July in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, the police breathalyzed a total of 64,000 vehicle drivers during this special campaign. That is over 11,000 breathalyzer tests more than in July 2022. This year, the police conducted a total of 94,000 breathalyzer tests. According to data of Statistics Finland (2024a), the number of drunk driving accident victims averaged 71 in July 2019–2022, including both fatalities and those injured. Based on preliminary data, the number of drunk driving accident victims in July 2023 and 2024 is estimated to have decreased by a third compared to previous years. Therefore, it seems that the enforcement has been successfully targeted.

The reason for scheduling the enforcement of impaired driving for July was to carry out the campaign at the busiest time of summer, during the summer event season and at the time when the number of drunk driving accident victims has been highest in previous years. The police therefore wanted to allocate enforcement resources specifically to active control of driving under the influence in order to increase the risk of being caught and reduce the number of accidents due to substance abuse.

Figure 1. Monthly averages of drunk driving accident victims (fatalities and injuries in total) in 2019–2022 (all months) and in 2023–2024 (January–August). Source of data: Statistics Finland 2024a.

About enforcement carried out by the police

In addition to speeding, driving under the influence still poses the greatest risk to the life and health of road users. According to the Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI's 2024 Driving Under Influence Report, the total number of fatal motor vehicle accidents between 2018 and 2022 was 742. Of those mainly responsible for the accident, of whom data on intoxicants was available, 38 per cent (N=271) were intoxicated, that is, under the influence of one or more intoxicants. (Räty 2024).

The proportion of aggravated cases of driving under the influence of alcohol (blood alcohol content 1.2 per mille or more) has been around 60 per cent for a long time. The risk ratio of causing a fatal traffic accident is approximately one hundred times higher if your blood alcohol content is 1.0 per mille, and up to approximately ten times higher, if your blood alcohol content is 0.4 per mille. (Luoma 2022).

The above, together with the fact that the number of victims of substance abuse accidents is highest in July, justifies why it is reasonable to allocate police working hours to enforcement of drunk driving in July. The aim is to breathalyze as many vehicle drivers as possible during the supervision, in order to increase the risk of being caught and to reduce the number of traffic accidents.

During the enforcement campaign carried out by the police, a high number of breathalyzer tests was performed on the main roads, but also on more remote routes, especially popular holiday home traffic routes throughout Finland. In areas with busy road traffic and at times of busy road traffic, mass breathalyzer tests were particularly favored in the enforcement. Individual spot checks were used more on waterways and on routes with quieter road traffic. Timewise, the main emphasis of the enforcement was targeted at times when, based on the analysis, it was known that the number of intoxicated drivers on the road was highest and so the risk of accidents was highest as well. These times included weekend nights and Saturday mornings. Summer events and the fact that this was the most popular summer holiday month were also taken into account in planning. Drivers who were intoxicated by narcotics or drugs were also subject to enforcement, but the majority of those causing a drunk driving accident are under the influence of alcohol.

Effect of enforcement on traffic safety

Regular traffic control and sanctions are necessary. Studies show that conventional enforcement in particular significantly reduces the number of accidents, even serious ones. Many countries around the world rely heavily on traffic enforcement in changing driver behaviour and improving road safety. Traffic enforcement has been shown to effectively reduce the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents in countries where motor vehicles are used a lot. Traditional “manned” traffic enforcement by the police has been found to have a significant positive influence not only on serious crashes but also on all accidents in road traffic in general. The findings indicate that traditional enforcement creates a specific deterrence effect on so-called high-risk drivers (Tay 2009).

Number of victims of drunk driving accidents and number of traffic fatalities in summer

According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland (2024a), three people died in drunk driving accidents in 2023 and 2024 in July, compared to an average of approximately seven in 2019–2022. Overall, the number of drunk driving accidents decreased by one third (-34%) in 2023–2024 compared to the average in July of previous years (2019–2022). With regard to the supervision in July 2023 and 2024, it was significant that, based on information of the police, also the number of verified cases of drunk driving was lower than in previous years (approximately -14%).

As can be seen in Figure 1, the number of drunk driving accident victims is highest in the summer months. The number of traffic fatalities also increases in the summer months. In Figure 2, the months of July are highlighted in green and the dashed lines show the number of fatalities in July 2023 and 2024 compared to other months. Since the police initiated enhanced enforcement of drunk driving, fewer people have died in traffic in July 2023 and 2024 than in July 2019–2022. Enhanced enforcement and other simultaneous more active traffic control can be seen to be reflected more generally in traffic fatalities and thus in traffic safety.

Figure 2. Fatalities in road traffic by month 1/2019–8/2024. Source of data: Statistics Finland 2024b.

About the development of the number of drunk driving cases

It was stated above that fewer intoxicated drivers were encountered in traffic in the drunk driving enforcement campaign in July than in previous years. Twice a year, the police conduct an R-study, which measures the number of drivers intoxicated by alcohol in traffic. No monitoring was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic years, and the first post-COVID study was conducted in 2022. In 2022 and 2023, the number of drivers over the limit of drunk driving was higher than in previous years (0.18%), as the number of drivers over the limit has usually been between 0.13 and 0.14%. This year, the number of drivers over the limit of drunk driving decreased to 0.12%. The proportion of those having consumed alcohol was higher in 2018 and in the years prior to that it was higher than in 2023 and 2024. It is still too early to say that the number of intoxicated drivers in traffic would be decreasing, at least based on the R-studies. The number of intoxicated drivers encountered by the police in traffic has been declining since 2011, but the development has stabilized at the current level a few years ago.

What are the factors associated with driving under the influence? In his dissertation (2011), Impinen found that low social status is related to driving under the influence among young people and people of working age. According to the study, low educational levels, unemployment, living alone and being single increased the likelihood of such activity. Among young people, also factors related to parents, such as a low levels of education and income, were also related to their children driving while drunk. On the other hand, even though among working-age people, a low income level was a precursor for driving while intoxicated, the connection was the opposite among young people, that is, a higher income meant that driving while intoxicated was more common.

In conclusion

Traffic enforcement by the police is one concrete way of changing the behaviour of road users directly on the road. Safe traffic behaviour, on the other hand, leads to a lower number of accidents and less human suffering, as well as lower costs incurred by society as a result of accidents.

Regular traffic enforcement and sanctions are necessary to make the behaviour of road users safer. According to studies, conventional enforcement in particular significantly prevents accidents, even serious ones. In addition to enforcement, it is important that people have information about safe behaviour in traffic. Knowledge provides the means for doing the right thing. Although information and enforcement do not have an impact on change in the behaviour of all people in traffic in a safer direction, enforcement can also be used to interrupt the journey of a drunk driver and prevent accidents.

The police will continue to enforcement drunk driving in order to reduce the number of cases of driving under the influence and the related accidents. The police will contribute to halving the number of traffic fatalities by 2030 and achieving the zero vision by 2050.

Pasi Rissanen
Assistant Police Commissioner
National Police Board of Finland

Mika Sutela
Analyst
National Police Board of Finland

Sources

Impinen, Antti: Arrested drunk drivers: Trends, social background, recidivism and mortality. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction and University of Helsinki, The Hjelt Institute, Department of Public Health, 2011 https://www.julkari.fi/handle/10024/79865

Luoma, Arto: Kuolemaan johtaneisiin liikenneonnettomuuksiin vaikuttaneita taustatekijöitä 2005–2014 (Background factors influencing fatal traffic accidents 2005-2014). Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2022. https://www.lvk.fi/document/318710/2CAFA6300EEB9C65FE7EFA1D90729276024F44EDE293FEB6435E3C075A4E1EEC

Räty, Esa: OTI Driving Under Influence Report. Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2024. https://www.lvk.fi/document/551159/00D93F3E8A11D4285C3D28CD9BEE7DE17FD1C71DFA770EE4647E0D06C64859D4

Tay, Richard: The Effectiveness of Automated and Manned Traffic Enforcement. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 3 2009, 178–186.

Statistics Finland: Road traffic accidents. https://tieliikenneonnettomuudet.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/Tieliikenneonnettomuudet/ Accessed 19 September 2024 (2024a)

Statistics Finland: Road traffic accident statistics. Official Statistics of Finland (OSF). https://stat.fi/en/statistics/ton Accessed 19 September 2024. (2024b)

]]>

The most serious road traffic accidents typically occur within 80 km/h speed limit zones

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:26:00 GMT

Recent years have seen roughly half of Finland as the focus of fatal road traffic accidents. As the map below shows, the majority of fatal accidents on Finnish roads in 2022–2023 occurred outside of Lapland. Based on Statistics Finland data (2024b), roughly one fifth (N=67, 18%) of the 379 fatalities in these years occurred in Uusimaa alone. The regions of Uusimaa, Southwest Finland and Pirkanmaa together account for around one third (N=128, 34%) of all road traffic fatalities. However, relative to the population, the region with the lowest number of road fatalities per 10,000 inhabitants is Uusimaa, whereas South Savo and Kainuu have the highest.

Fatal road accidents 2022–2023. Source: Ramboll 2024.

Of the 451 lives claimed in road traffic accidents in 2022, 2023 and January-June 2024, 191, or around 42%, were caused by accidents within an 80 km/h speed limit (Statistics Finland 2024b). This speed limit has been by far the most common speed limit where lives have been claimed in road traffic accidents, with the period from November to January being the most typical period for these fatalities.

Finnish drivers often speed. According to an international ESRA (E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes) survey, three out of four Finnish drivers have been speeding in the last 30 days, which is above the average for the respondent countries.

Based on police system data, the police recorded the offence of causing a serious traffic hazard in 41% of road traffic fatalities between 1/2022 and 6/2024 as the most serious offence. The behaviour underlying these fatalities therefore met the constituent elements of causing a serious traffic hazard under chapter 23, section 2 [545/1999] of the Criminal Code, i.e. the driver of the vehicle was driving well above the maximum speed limit, either intentionally or through gross negligence. Around 40% of fatalities occurred in the regions of Uusimaa, Southwest Finland and Pirkanmaa. At a national level, around 39% of the fatalities caused by accidents involving suspicion of behaviour causing a serious traffic hazard occurred in an 80 km/h speed limit zone.

Alcohol and serious accidents

Individual risk factors identified by investigation teams in accidents involving substance abuse include intoxication, as well as not wearing a seat belt and drivers' general disregard for the rules of the road. Speeding is also a typical risk factor in accidents where substance abuse is involved.

Overall, road traffic fatalities in Finland have decreased by about 20% over the past ten years. According to Statistics Finland data (2024a), over the same period, an average of around a fifth, or in some years as high as a quarter, of the lives claimed in personal injury accidents in road traffic were in drink driving accidents. In other words, the percentage of lives lost in drink driving accidents among all road traffic fatalities remains more or less unchanged from year to year. Last year, however, the percentage of fatalities in drink driving accidents was only around 11%, i.e. 20 people, compared to an average of around 50 in previous years (Statistics Finland 2024). Relatively many young people die in drink driving accidents. According to the Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI, 27% of the main contributors of fatal drink driving accidents between 2018 and 2022 were under the age of 25 (Räty 2024).

The percentage of driving while seriously intoxicated cases (blood alcohol concentration, BAC, level of at least 1.2 per mille) of drink-driving offences has long been around 60%. The risk of being the cause of a fatal road accident is around 100 times higher with a blood alcohol level of 1.0 per mille, and about ten times higher with a BAC level of 0.4 per mille. (Luoma 2022.)

Narcotics and serious accidents

According to a wastewater study by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), amphetamines are the most commonly used stimulant drug in most parts of Finland. Its use, as well as that of cocaine, has increased outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. (THL 2024b.) As a rule, the results of the wastewater survey for Finland as a whole in 2012–2022 have been very consistent with statistics on drug-impaired driving and seizures by the police and customs (THL 2024a).

In an Yle interview, Juha Oksanen, a substance abuse physician, stated that mixed substance use is a characteristic of problem substance use in Finland and that "when and whatever is available is used" (Koskelo 2024).

According to a 2024 substance abuse report by the Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI, fatal traffic drug accidents between 2018 and 2022 averaged approximately 16 a year (Räty 2024). The development of accidents has been broadly in line with the number of drug-impaired driving incidents reported to the authorities, which peaked in 2020. In 2022, there were 5,788 drug-impaired driving incidents compared to 9,272 in 2020. According to police statistics, around one-fifth of drug-impaired driving suspects in recent years have been aged under 25. According to OTI, a slightly higher percentage, well over a quarter, of the main contributors of fatal drug-impaired driving accidents have been under the age of 25 years.

Speeding beats even drugs

A study by Luoma (2022) showed that approximately 10% of passenger car drivers causing a fatal road accident were speeding. The risk of causing a fatal accident is approximately ten times higher if you drive at 105 km/h, or up to a hundred times higher if you drive at 130 km/h on a road where an 80 km/h speed limit is in force.

Speeding plays a significant role in fatal accidents. Speeding reduces reaction time and also has an impact on the severity of the accident. Fatal accidents occur frequently at high speeds and remarkably, even surprisingly, in 80 km/h speed limit zones.

Although intoxicants have long been a challenge in traffic, and the situation is unlikely to improve with the increasing use of drugs, there is little variation in per mille spread and a strong state of intoxication is common in drink driving, speeding can nevertheless be considered a significant, and currently an even higher risk of road traffic fatalities than intoxicants. Why a person speeds, even if the risks it poses are known, is the sum of several factors. However, the same person can influence the factors themselves and adjust the speed of the vehicle they drive to the level required by the rules of the road and road conditions. An appropriate speed may not necessarily be the maximum speed indicated by a speed limit.

Sources

Koskelo, Maaria: Satamakaupungissa metamfetamiinin käytön ennätystulos – käyttäjät eivät usein edes tiedä, mitä käyttävät. Yle Uutiset 18.7.2024. [Record methamphetamine use in port city – users often don't even know what they're using. Yle News 18.7.2024] https://yle.fi/a/74-20099912

Luoma, Arto: Kuolemaan johtaneisiin liikenneonnettomuuksiin vaikuttaneita taustatekijöitä 2005–2014. [Background factors contributing to fatal road traffic accidents 2005-2014] Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2022. https://www.lvk.fi/document/318710/2CAFA6300EEB9C65FE7EFA1D90729276024F44EDE293FEB6435E3C075A4E1EEC

Ramboll: Map showing accidents. https://mobilityanalytics.ramboll.com/onn/poliisi/ Accessed on 6 August 2024.

Räty, Esa: OTI-Päihderaportti [Substance abuse report]. Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2024. https://www.lvk.fi/document/551159/00D93F3E8A11D4285C3D28CD9BEE7DE17FD1C71DFA770EE4647E0D06C64859D4

Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitos THL: Jätevesitutkimus: väestötason huumeiden käyttö. Page updated 27.6.2024. https://thl.fi/tutkimus-ja-kehittaminen/tutkimukset-ja-hankkeet/jatevesitutkimus (2024a)

Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL: Wastewater study: Use of cocaine increased outside Helsinki Metropolitan Area, increasing use of amphetamines in most of Finland. News 28.7.2024. https://thl.fi/-/jatevesitutkimus-kokaiinin-kaytto-lisaantynyt-paakaupunkiseudun-ulkopuolella-amfetamiinin-kaytto-kasvussa-suuressa-osassa-maata (2024b)

Statistics Finland: Road traffic accidents. https://tieliikenneonnettomuudet.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/Tieliikenneonnettomuudet/ Accessed 6.8.2024 (2024a)

Statistics Finland: Statistics on road traffic accidents. Official Statistics of Finland (OSF). https://stat.fi/en/statistics/ton Accessed 6.8.2024. (2024b)

Pasi Rissanen
Assistant Police Commissioner
National Police Board of Finland

Mika Sutela
Analyst
National Police Board of Finland

]]>

Traineeship at the National Police Board: Diverse communication and valuable experience

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 10:07:00 GMT

Students Assi Sipola and Julia Häkkinen spent their spring and summer as university trainees in communications at the National Police Board. In this blog, Assi and Julia tell what their traineeship included and their takeaways for the future.

Feelings at the start of traineeship

Assi:
Soon after having been interviewed, I learnt that I’d been given an traineeship. I remember how happy I was when I found out. The interview also left me with a good feeling, and I felt that my skills and previous experience were appreciated. I started my traineeship in the beginning of April. I live in Tampere and so took the train to Pasila, from where took a bus to Espoo. There was a terrible blizzard on the day I started and so all the trains were late, including mine. It was annoying to be late on the first day, but to my delight my supervisor was understanding and happy to meet me.

On the first day, I was shown around the building and introduced to the basics. I was given tools and my own office. I attended the first meetings remotely and was able to meet my colleagues via video. During the first weeks, I was given an extensive introduction to the values, operations and communications of the police.

Some of the inductions were online courses, some were trainings and others were one-on-one meetings. Information came one step at a time, and there was plenty of time to study it. Each team member introduced me to their own tasks. This gave me a clear picture of what the National Police Board's communications consist of. I was also able to try my hand at very different tasks and extensively develop my own skills.

Julia:
I received the good news in the early spring that I’d been given an traineeship in communications at the National Police Board. The news was the start of eager expectation and preparation for training at the beginning of summer. Before the traineeship began, it was time to complete a security clearance, among other things.

I’d applied to the National Police Board because I was interested in the diverse communication tasks available in the traineeship. These would give me a chance for self-development and to learn new things as well as to work in a nationally relevant organisation. In summer, this all became a reality.

The first day already included a lot of new information and a tour of the office. And already on the second day of my traineeship, I was able to join in the annual communications network days held in Helsinki. There I got to meet communication specialists working for the police. At the event, we were able to hear and follow the experiences and example of seasoned professionals. The traineeship enabled me to get into communications right away.

The first weeks included proper induction, as I was able to learn about the responsibilities of the professionals working in the communications team and participate in trainings. Initially, there were new systems and vocabulary to learn. The training was also up-to-date and, for example, the possibilities of artificial intelligence were discussed. Already at the beginning of the traineeship, it became clear that working in the police is meticulous, as it is an authority responsible for internal security. This had to be taken into account in our own activities.

The National Police Board provided trainees with their own room, which they could access whenever they came to work at the office. Working remotely was flexible. People needed to come to the office a certain number of times a month, and the rest could be done freely as you wished, either remotely or at the office.

What was it like at the National Police Board?

Assi:
My traineeship at the National Police Board was a good experience. I liked the fact that the traineeship allowed me to do a wide variety of tasks ranging from internal communications to external communications. My tasks included writing news and press releases, social media content production, website building and planning and implementing communications for the Crisis Management NOW Expo. I was also given the job of setting up a network for university trainees in communications. Since most of the trainees only started in the summer, I regret not being able to attend many meetings before the end of my traineeship.

I feel that the National Police Board takes good care of the wellbeing of its employees. During the three-month traineeship, a communications recreation day was organised as well as joint recreation days for the entire National Police Board. I was warmly welcomed to both. Recreation days were one of the best experiences of my traineeship, as I got to know my colleagues outside of work. I also got to know other National Police Board employees from outside my department. Even though I was a trainee, I felt like an equal team member.

The National Police Board also offers excellent occupational healthcare, sports benefits, flexible working hours and the possibility to work remotely. Unfortunately, due to illness in the spring, I had to make use of occupational healthcare, and in addition to quick access to a doctor, I also received good treatment. The exercise benefit encourages regular exercise, which in turn increases coping at work. Flexible working hours take into account different life situations and make it easier to combine work with studies, for example. The possibility of working remotely was especially important to me and made this traineeship possible for me. In my opinion, taking care of the wellbeing of employees is particularly important for the police, because the work sometimes also deals with difficult and stressful topics.

Working for the National Police Board felt meaningful, and I’m glad that I had the chance to experience this traineeship. I learnt a lot not only about communications but also about the police organisation. During my traineeship, I met more motivated employees who excelled at their work and were proud of what they do. The working environment was inspiring and I was able to talk to very different people whose careers I admire. After my traineeship, I can say that the safety and security of citizens is in good hands!

Julia:
The work community at the National Police Board was welcoming and warm. Despite the possibility of working remotely, I was also able to get to know the specialists in the communications team and the work community on site at the office. This was done by weekly joint remote meetings and agreed joint days at the office. The working weeks followed a rhythm where there were several weekly meetings with different configurations. Regular meetings made sure that everyone was up to date on what was happening and what everyone was doing. Meetings and contacts were also held with communication specialists from police departments, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Police University College, so the traineeship provided an insight into the activities of many communications teams.

Despite the responsibility given, there was no fear of being left on your own with anything at National Police Board. Members of the communications team always emphasised the low threshold to contact them and ask what springs to mind. That was also true.

The summer included a variety of tasks. The National Police Board provided a chance to carry out external and internal communications as well as current affairs. These included, for example, press releases, social media publications, intranet news and website updates. The police's social media channels are followed by many people, so posting there is both responsible and meaningful. Likewise, communication in other channels is important. The press releases became news in various media, so the National Police Board was able to influence what is being discussed. The National Police Board has been able to communicate about significant issues, such as investment scams, the safety of schoolchildren on their way to and from school and not being drunk in traffic. I was also involved in organising a background information event for the media. In addition, I took part in communication about the annual Police Day. Effective communication is of great importance, as it helps to maintain trust in the police, for example.

It's important for police communication to be accessible so that everyone receives the same information. The National Police Board takes accessibility into account in its communications in various ways, be it websites or social media postings, for example. This could be seen, for example, in the creation of alternative texts for images. The National Police Board also ensures that communications are carried out not only in Finnish but also in Swedish and English. This makes language skills useful.

One of the themes in the police this year has been the update of values. I myself was able to participate in this work, being involved in the discussions to determine the values of the police. The previous values in the police were customer service, fairness, professionalism and staff welfare, to which everyone working at the National Police Board and in different police departments is committed. Since the police are an important part of Finnish society, it has also been important to get information about the updated values of the police from citizens at Police Day events and from other stakeholders.

I was given a suitable amount of responsibility. For example, for a while I was solely responsible for the intranet, i.e. the internal media channel used by the National Police Board. In addition to responsibility, there was also freedom of, for example, being able to determine your own working hours. This meant that work could start a little earlier or later, as there were no exact start and end times for working days. Similarly, the wellbeing of employees was taken care of, as a certain amount of exercise was allowed during working hours.

During the traineeship, I also got to hear more about career opportunities in the police and also get to know university trainees outside the communications departments. In addition, peer support was given during the summer from university communications trainees working in police departments. During the summer, each week everyone doing university communications traineeships in the police met up to exchange news, and there was also an opportunity to ask questions and advise each other. Since the communications tasks at the National Police Board and police departments differed somewhat, it was valuable to share experiences and information with others.

What were the takeaways from the traineeship for the future?

Assi:
The traineeship strengthened my thoughts about my own competence and that I am ready for working life. I had the chance to do a wide range of communications tasks, which helped me understand what kind of work I would like to do going forward. I left with a lot of good memories and experiences, as well as valuable work experience when looking for a job. I can recommend a university traineeship at the National Police Board!

Julia:
My time as a trainee at the National Police Board has flown by, and it is hard to believe that now after months it’s at an end.

This traineeship and summer have been very rewarding and educational. I have been able to develop as a communicator and gained experience of working for a government sector employer. This summer's experience in communications has cleared my thoughts as to the kind of work I would like to do going forward.

I can warmly recommend joining the National Police Board as a university trainee. The National Police Board has university trainees from several fields in various positions, so there are a wide range of opportunities available. Vacancies in the police can be found on the valtiolle.fi website.

More information

The job search service of the Finnish government Valtiolle.fi/en/
Careers with us - Police.fi

]]>

What is the future of mediation – questions about mediation

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 09:30:00 GMT

In mediation, the parties involved in a criminal act come face to face with each other and search for a solution to the crime or dispute at hand, in cooperation with mediators. Mediators are not parties to the crime and have a duty of confidentiality, and they do not take a stand on who is right or wrong. In mediation, the parties share their experiences and feelings, participate in resolving the matter and in investigating the course of events and damages, as well as the harm done.

What are the reasons for the intention to discontinue mediation in cases involving domestic or intimate partner violence?

A significant proportion of the crimes mediated are related to violence. According to the Government Programme entry “As a rule, mediation in cases involving domestic or intimate partner violence will be discontinued”, the intention is to prohibit mediation in cases of domestic and intimate partner violence. The prohibition is understandable, particularly when looking at the matter from the perspective of a victim in a subordinated and vulnerable position, or from the perspective of the serious and problematic nature of gender-based violence against women.

However, due to the absolute nature of the prohibition, there is a risk that the position of the parties to domestic violence and, in particular, children, as well as the comprehensive referral of people to the services they need, will be undermined, which will cause further cross-generational problems. Defining a domestic or intimate partner relationship is also problematic.

The authorities and other actors, who work in practice with both parties involved in this type of violence, see more opportunities than threats in mediation. It remains to be seen what will be decided, and how absolute the decision will be, and what the consequences will be in practice. We already know that the workload of the police will not be reduced as regards crime prevention and the numerous ancillary obligations in pre-trial investigation.

Why wait for a crime to be mediated?

Mediation is a fine tool that enables people to be expertly referred to other necessary services – but why should we wait until a crime occurs that then requires mediation? Particularly in the case of young people, all kinds of things happen that ultimately lead to crimes, such as assaults and property crimes, and everything from malicious damage to robbery. In many cases, crimes committed by juveniles are preceded by inappropriate behaviour, which leads to confrontation, and when the dispute and bullying continues and becomes more serious, to acts that meet the characteristics of a crime. It should be possible to intervene in these associated phenomena at an early stage.

This requires that many different actors work together, for example within the framework of Anchor work. However, it must be understood that Anchor work cannot be based on police resources only, but requires the preparedness, capability and competence of other parties, as well as continuous commitment.

The significance of mediation in preventing recidivism should also be better identified and recognised. Those who have worked with crimes committed by young people know too well that the young person who commits a crime is often also a victim, requiring the support of a safe adult. The role of an adult includes not accepting everything, but understanding and supporting the young person to help them achieve life without crime.

What about preventative mediation?

The police has sought to promote preventative mediation, which has been brought up in the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare’s National Advisory Board for Mediation Matters and in the stakeholder cooperation of the police’s USEL network. Preventative mediation at the above-mentioned phenomenon-level stage before crimes occur could save the future of many young people, and teach even more juveniles to consider the consequences of their actions and show consideration to others, as well as to understand the insidious dangers involved in confrontation.

Instead of prohibiting mediation services, it should be possible to develop them in a preventative direction, especially in the case of young people, so that matters would already be addressed by means of mediation in situations that precede crimes, as described above. This should be taken seriously into account at the latest when mediation activities are transferred from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to the Ministry of Justice – as planned. At the same time, the entire field of mediation and its relationship with the preliminary investigation process and the authorities involved in that process, should be updated.

Pekka Heikkinen
Chief Superintendent
National Police Board

Anchor work is multi-professional cooperation that supports the well-being of children and young people and prevents crime. The activities involved also aim to prevent violent radicalisation and extremism. The work is carried out in teams consisting of experts from the police, social welfare services, health and youth services. More extensive networks of actors are needed for this work.

The USEL network is a national network of commanding officer level police officers that discusses, with stakeholders, issues related to the victim’s position, mediation, supervision of interests and restraining orders.

]]>

Search Engines as a tool for law enforcement to prevent youth cybercrime

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:07:00 GMT

Finnish law enforcement is actively working to prevent cybercrime committed by young people and during the past years has, for example, used Google Ads as a tool to warn youth about the illegality and consequences of cybercrime. Combatting cybercrime, however, is not just a police matter, but crime prevention requires efforts from technology companies as well.

Cybercrime has become a worldwide threat that can cause severe harm, not only to individuals and companies, but also undermine the stability of the entire society. Youth are disproportionally represented in international cybercrime statistics, and a recent youth survey on cybercrime reveals how common illegal online behavior is amongst youth.

Nowadays, tools and instructions to commit cybercrimes, such as DDoS attacks, are easily available for children and youngsters also through major search engines such as Google. Search engines also suggest search results from entities providing criminal tools, without any warning about the illegality or harmful consequences of cybercrime.

Law enforcement is actively searching for more effective ways to prevent youth cybercrime. Preventative work, however, requires new tools to reach potential offenders. Online interventions aim to directly in an online envi-ronment reach youth who are at risk of engaging in cybercriminal acts. Interventions are not only a part of ad-vancing preventative work, but also a part of international collaboration.

Positive results from Google Ads campaigns in Finland and internationally

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) has participated in two international offender prevention campaigns on Google Ads between 2021–2023, targeting youth who are using Google to search for cybercrime related terms in categories of Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS), illegal hacking, or Remote Access Trojans (RAT). The target group of the campaigns were young people between the ages of 12–25, who based on their actions and interests are at risk of committing cybercrimes.

The first campaign was also tested on Bing and DuckDuckGo. The second campaign focused specifically on searches related to DDoS attacks on Google. The Finnish campaigns were executed by the NBI's Cybercrime Exit project – partially funded by the European Union – which pilots, trains, and develops methods to break the cycle of youth cybercrime.

During the Google Ads campaigns, users searching for cybercrime related terms were shown a prevent mes-sage from law enforcement, reminding users that DDoS attacks, malicious hacking, and using Remote Access Trojans is illegal, and guiding users to the police campaign page to find out more information. The goal was to provide young people with tools to make informed choices online, by educating them about the line between legal and illegal activities and consequences of cybercrime, as well as offering legal alternatives to enhance their skills.

Within a few months, the campaigns by the Finnish NBI gained over 58,000 impressions and 3,000 visits to the police website. Internationally, the campaigns resulted in over 566,000 impressions and 29,000 clicks. Out of the participating countries, the Finnish campaigns best reached the intended target audience. In addition to Finland, the Netherlands and Portugal, among others, participated in the campaigns.

Efforts from IT-companies are needed

Campaign results demonstrate, that Finnish users also actively search for cybercrime related terms on Google. From law enforcement perspective, Google Ads has therefore proven to be a relevant way to raise awareness and support making informed choices in an online environment, where guidance between legal and illegal activi-ties is conspicuous by its absence. Cybercrime investigations are often lengthy and require extensive expertise. Intervening as early as possible, before the damages become uncontrollable, is the most cost-effective and low-effort way to prevent the cycle of crime.

With cybercrime on the rise, investing in preventative measures is crucial. Offender prevention and educating about cybercrime and its consequences enable us to raise the threshold of cyber offending and cost-effectively save society's resources. Preventive work, however, requires efforts not only from law enforcement, but also from the private sector. IT-companies play a central role in our digitalized society, and most of our digital lives happen on various platforms and services provided by IT-companies.

Therefore, large tech companies, such as Google, also have a unique position and responsibility to enhance online safety. By investing in cybercrime of-fender prevention, tech companies can prevent misuse of their platforms, and take responsibility for creating a safer digital environment.

Cybercrime Exit – prevention of cybercrime committed by young people - Police (poliisi.fi)

]]>

In a hurry to die and tired of life?

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 11:36:00 GMT

Finnish drivers drive faster than average, when tired and hold a mobile phone when driving.

An extensive international ESRA (E-Survey of Road Users' Attitudes) surveys traffic behaviour, attitudes and opinions in different countries. The latest results were collected during 2023. More than 42,000 road users from 39 countries (22 European countries) responded to the survey. The respondents were asked both about their own behaviour in traffic during the past 30 days and how acceptable they considered different things.

The survey does not paint a positive picture of the speed choices of Finns. Three out of four Finnish drivers said they had speeded at least once in the previous 30 days before responding to the survey. This is well above the average for the participating countries. The driving speed in the prevailing conditions is also reported to have been too high more often than average.

In addition to speed, the weaknesses of Finnish drivers include mobile phones and fatigue. Nearly half (46%) of Finnish drivers had talked on their mobile phone while holding it when driving in the previous 30 days before responding to the survey. The share is 20 percentage points higher than the average for the participating countries. Also, 41% of Finnish drivers said they had read messages, social media updates or news.

A tired driver behind the wheel pushes on regardless, despite insufficient functional capacity. During the previous month preceding their response, nearly one in three Finns said that they had been so tired when driving that they had found it hard to keep their eyes open. The survey indicates that driving when tired seems to be quite common, and the question arises as to whether people even generally regard it as unacceptable, whether they know that it is prohibited by law and whether they understand that fatigue increases the risk of accidents.

According to the study, however, people in Finland drive under the influence of alcohol less often than average. Drink driving is also viewed with disapproval, whereas cycling while under the influence is more permissible.

In Finland, the most typical immediate risk factor in motor vehicle accidents is a driving error, such as a too sudden and violent steering movement or being in the wrong lane. Underlying risks are often the explanation for these errors. An underlying risk, a risk factor affecting the driver's condition and behaviour, was involved in 80% of accidents in 2022. The most typical individual underlying risks in this group were the influence of alcohol (30% of accidents), illness (17% of accidents) and suicidal behaviour (15% of accidents). (Sihvola 2023.)

Hardly any change in road traffic fatalities in different road user groups

According to preliminary data, there were 173 fatalities on Finnish roads in 2023 (Statistics Finland 2024). Although the number of road traffic fatalities began to decrease towards the end of the first decade of the 2000s, more than three hundred people still lost their lives on the roads in 2008 (see Figure 1). The trend in the number mainly correlates with recorded traffic offences. The number of traffic offences recorded by the police, like road traffic fatalities, has nearly halved since 2004.

Figure 1. Road traffic fatalities in Finland 2004–2023.

Over the past 20 years, however, there have been no major changes in road traffic fatalities by road user group. Fatalities involving cars and vans have steadily accounted for around 60% of all road traffic fatalities. Vulnerable road users, i.e. pedestrians and cyclists, have accounted for around one fifth of all road fatalities (see Figure 2). For young people (aged under 25), the share of fatalities involving cars and vans has been slightly higher on average, but there has been more annual variation. For young people, the share of vulnerable traffic has averaged lower than for the population as a whole, but for mopeds/motorcycles, the share has been higher.

Figure 2. Relative shares (%) of road traffic fatalities by road user group in all age groups and young people (aged under 25), 2004-2023.

Between 2020 and 2022, an average of 214 people lost their lives in road traffic in Sweden and 215 in Finland, i.e. practically the same number. Relative to the population, however, the number is double in Finland (3.9 vs. 2). In Sweden, too, fatalities involving cars and vans have constituted by far the largest group of road users in road traffic fatalities over the past twenty years, with a relative share of around 57%. As in Finland, the combined share of pedestrian and cyclist deaths has accounted for around one-fifth of all road traffic fatalities. So even though the situation in Sweden is considerably better in terms of road traffic fatalities than in Finland, the percentages of different road user groups in fatalities are in practice similar.

There are understandably differences in legislation in Finland and Sweden in many respects, such as the constituent elements of traffic offences and sanctions. Regulatory differences are not enough to explain much of the difference in road traffic fatalities.

The statistics raise questions as to why the relative share of fatalities involving cars and vans does not fall faster than others, as there is clear improvement in car safety technology, for example. In addition, the data raises questions about the extent to which developments in transport infrastructure or police traffic enforcement have influenced the development of the number of road traffic fatalities. Traffic volumes have increased at the same time, at least for these road user groups, so does that partly explain why the relative share is not falling, despite other positive developments? Or have improvements in infrastructure or the development of police enforcement have been offset by the increase in traffic volumes? We might also ask whether, despite the prevailing positive developments surrounding road user groups, there is a certain number of people every year who are in a hurry to die and tired of life.

Underlying risk related to driver condition involved in a large share of fatal accidents

Road accident investigation teams assess the risk factors underlying fatal accidents on the basis of their investigation. The underlying risk factor explains the immediate risk by enabling it. Underlying risks relate to the road user (e.g. fatigue, intoxication, speeding). An underlying risk related to the driver's condition, such as alcohol or fatigue, was involved in 80% of motor vehicle accidents investigated by investigation teams in 2022. Underlying risks related to driving speed (e.g. speeding, excessive speed given the conditions, skill or vehicle) were present in 55% of accidents. (Sihvola 2023.)

In addition to intoxication, speeding has been one of the typical individual risk factors in accidents caused by intoxicated drivers investigated by road accident investigation teams. Speeding is a significant risk factor for road accidents. Speeding leads to loss of vehicle control and more serious collisions. Speeding accounted for an average of almost half (43%) of the main causes of fatal accidents in Finland between 2003 and 2022 (Sihvola 2023). The ESRA survey found that three out of four Finnish drivers said they had been speeding well above average. What is the significance of Finns' lax attitude towards speed limits in fatal traffic accidents?

Driving under the influence of alcohol and narcotics is a significant risk factor for road accidents. Driving while intoxicated affects the driver's attention, ability to react and decision-making. An average of one in four (27%) fatal accidents in Finland between 2003 and 2022 was caused as a result of being under the influence of alcohol (Sihvola 2023). The fact that people drive cars when intoxicated less often than average in Finland will hopefully have an impact on the number of fatal traffic accidents. Although drink driving is less common in Finland than in the reference countries, intoxicants are another significant factor in fatal accidents, as is the case in many other European countries.

In 2022, the percentage of drivers under the influence of alcohol was 31% and that of those speeding by at least 10 km/h was 59%. The percentages of both intoxicated and speeding drivers were slightly higher than usual. Of the main perpetrators, 29% were both under the influence of alcohol and speeding. (Sihvola 2023.)

Also, fatigue often affects the actions of an intoxicated driver. Driving when tired in itself can impair the driver's attention and ability to react, increasing the risk of accidents. The driver's condition is essentially related to their state of health and associated illnesses, the effects of which can also be seen in traffic.

Many accidents are caused by factors related to the driver's state of health, such as sudden attacks of illness or mental illness. Of the fatal road traffic accidents investigated in 2022, 29 (approx. 15%) were accidents in which the victim died of a seizure instead of accidental injuries. (Sihvola 2023.)

Failure to wear a seat belt or safety device would save lives. Not wearing a seat belt increases the risk of injury in the event of an accident. In Finland, seat belts are mandatory for all car passengers. In 2022, one third (33%) of drivers and passengers in cars and vans involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. 39% (N = 45) of those who died were not wearing a seat belt. Wearing a seat belt would have saved 38% of these with different probabilities (N = 17). (Sihvola 2023.)

Traffic enforcement to make traffic safer

One of the key objectives of police traffic enforcement is to promote traffic safety. The task of the police is to monitor compliance with traffic rules and reduce the number of traffic accidents.
Traffic enforcement carried out by the police alone will not make traffic safer, but its significance can be understood if you consider what the situation would be if traffic enforcement was not carried out at all in Finland.

The aim of speed enforcement is to curb speeding and thus reduce the number of traffic accidents and their severity. The police will target enforcement in a data-driven manner at crash-prone locations at times when the risks of even more serious consequences are high.

The police focus on identifying, detecting and preventing drivers driving under the influence of alcohol and narcotics. The police carry out enforcement both as crackdowns and as targeted enforcement, for example, in areas where it is known, based on analysis, that vehicle drivers drive while intoxicated. The monitoring of intoxicated drivers essentially involves monitoring both the driver's fitness to drive and state of fatigue.

Monitoring fitness to drive aims to identify people who may be too ill or in poor physical or mental condition to drive safely. If the driver's state of health makes them unfit to drive, they may endanger the life and health of others. Many accidents are caused by factors related to the driver's state of health, such as sudden attacks of illness or mental illness. Enforcement of fitness to drive is particularly important for young and older drivers and professional drivers, who may be at greater risk due to health issues.

An examination of mortality among road user groups makes it seem important to address car and vulnerable road users in particular if we want to achieve a significant reduction in road traffic fatalities. Road traffic fatalities can be prevented, for example, through traffic control, infrastructure planning and implementation that increases safety, speed limits, training and education, but the most important way to prevent traffic fatalities are road users themselves. Various measures must be taken to make Finnish traffic culture and attitudes on the road more conducive to the promotion of road safety.

Pasi Rissanen
Assistant Police Commissioner
National Police Board

Mika Sutela
Analyst
National Police Board

References

Finnish Road Safety Council: A European comparison shows that Finns drive when tired, with a mobile phone in hand and are often speeding. News 16 October 2023. https://www.liikenneturva.fi/ajankohtaista/eurooppalainen-vertailu-kertoo-suomalaisten-ajavan-vasyneina-kannykka-kadessa-ja-usein-ylinopeutta/#4a63ffdf (Read 28 November 2023).
Räty, Esa: OTI Driving under the influence report 2023. The Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2023.
Sihvola, Niina: OTI Annual report 2022. The Finnish Crash Data Institute OTI 2023.
Statistics Finland: Statistics on road traffic accidents. Official Statistics of Finland (OSF). https://stat.fi/tilasto/ton (information accessed on 25 January 2024).
Swedish Transport Agency: Statistics on road traffic accidents. Most recent update 15 December 2023. https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/vagtrafik/statistik/olycksstatistik/statistik-over-vagtrafikolyckor/ (8 January 2024).

]]>

Does traffic safety matter?

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 15:09:00 GMT

Did you know that every 23 seconds, someone dies in traffic in some part of the world? Every year, more than one million people are killed in traffic globally. No wonder then that the WHO works worldwide to reduce the number of traffic deaths. The WHO organised the first meeting of European Traffic Police this October. The presentations underlined the importance of the Police traffic controls to reduce road fatalities.

Finland, a strong and caring country, safeguards its inhabitants at home, on the streets and at the borders. The public feeling of traffic safety is part of the overall security experience. In 2022, less than 200 people died in traffic which is a sign of a positive trend. This favourable development seems to persist in the year now drawing to its end.

However, 200 traffic fatalities is by no means a small number. Every death mostly touches a large number of persons close to the deceased. More extensively, traffic deaths also impact the public feeling of security. Road fatalities is not a very frequent topic in society, compared to the number of persons who still lose their lives in traffic. The number of those killed as victims of homicides is smaller while drug-related fatalities show higher in number. Be it how it may, every death is a source of human suffering and social cost, even if expenses are of no consequence when weighed against the loss of a human life.

The core of the national traffic safety work is to decrease the number of road fatalities and serious injuries. When we are able to decrease them, we have less human suffering but also incur less cost as a society. Traffic control operations are in the centre of the Police traffic safety work, further intensified by communications and supported by follow-up, such as statistics, surveys and feedback.

Finland can boast a unique traffic fatality investigation system which produces quite detailed information on the causes related to traffic accidents. We therefore know that speeding and intoxicant use are the core factors leading to deaths in road accidents. This also applies to other European countries.

In the Police traffic safety work, an important focus is to maintain the awareness of a sufficient risk of getting caught, achieved by traffic controls. This is done by targeting random controls in roads and population centres chosen on a knowledge-based method. We cannot be everywhere controlling at all hours of the day, but the Police is performing traffic controls every day in various parts of Finland. Decreasing the accident risk is another objective of the Police traffic controls. The Police wants to target the controls in certain areas and traffic groups at times with the highest accident risk.

Unnecessary risk taken in traffic – at the expense of oneself and others

Traffic safety work is much more than just the Police controls. In the end, it is about choices, decision and actions taken by the individual. It is therefore a question of human behaviour. Why do we not always behave in the way that would be safest to us and to others but instead are prepared to take risks and which threaten not only our own life and health but also that of others?

This was the very question posed by the WHO representative in the presentation given at the meeting. This makes controls necessary. However, traffic planning also plays an important role in guiding human behaviour and minimising the consequences of mistakes that we all might make in traffic. The Swedish objective is to accentuate traffic environment planning Vision Zero . In the Swedish view, the traffic environment must send a message to drivers, for example as concerns the safe speed, and to guide the driver to act accordingly. Another premise of traffic planning is to let the drivers do as few “wrong” traffic choices as possible, and if a mistake takes place, the consequences should be as limited as possible.

The Finnish traffic safety work is guided by the Traffic Safety Strategy 2022–2026 (Ministry of Transport and Communications, 2022), and the road traffic is characterised by a vision of zero fatalities. The interim objective is to halve the number of road deaths and serious accidents from 2020 to 2030 which translates into about 100 road fatalities annually.

It is important for Finland to have a strategy that should guide the work of all parties involved in traffic safety work towards the “zero vision”. The strategy makes it possible to set the basis for each and everybody’s work, but it is only a foundation.

Improving traffic safety calls for societal discussion

The meeting also focused on the factors in society that seem to prevent the positive development of traffic safety work. At times it feels that the traffic safety strategies drawn and objectives set are not proceeding hand in hand with the resources allocated for traffic controls or, more generally, to traffic safety work. Certain simultaneous phenomena in society may also surpass the traffic safety objectives and so the operations focus on new and temporary phenomena. In other words, the policy is sometimes erratic.

It is true that internal security and safety are subject to phenomena which must be addressed in a timely, strong and decisive manner by society and the Police. However, old and existing internal security threats remain, and new or stronger phenomena just build on them. It is also a question of the value set for internal security as a whole. The Police is the leading internal security authority, with an operating environment that has become significantly more multifaceted. The Police has the operative responsibility to prevent the threats to internal security, in collaboration with other authorities in the field. Internal and external security are increasingly intertwined. The Police therefore plays an important role, be it traffic safety or the prevention of hybrid actions.

In the previous passages, reference was made to inactive societal discussion. Individual tragic accidents hit the news titles but often do not lead to more extensive analyses in news editorials or to a dialogue within the society at large. Sometimes traffic controls are not even seen as an acceptable form of action, as certain people find them an obstacle or harm to their personal freedom of action, and at times they may lead to passive or even active opposition.

Does traffic safety therefore matter? It certainly does, at least for those who make up the yearly fatality numbers, or if you ask the near and dear of the 200 persons lost in traffic on a yearly basis. Not everybody died due to their own action but as victims of insufficient traffic safety.

Pasi Rissanen
Assistant Police Commissioner
National Police Board

]]>

Tribute to criminal investigation professionals

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 09:34:00 GMT

The prestigious Police Officer of the Year award was presented today, 8 November 2023, to Detective Senior Sergeant Ismo Venäläinen from Eastern Finland Police Department. At the same time, the choice of Police Officer of the Year is also a tribute to police criminal investigation professionals everywhere in Finland.

Criminal investigations are an important part of the functioning of society and implementation of justice. It lays the foundation for the functioning of our legal system and for the implementation of criminal liability in society. Criminal investigation maintains internal security, justice and social order and deserves great respect.

Because of the societal importance of criminal investigation, the police must constantly work to develop it. It’s important that leadership, ways of working, legislation and competence are developed and to adopt the means that best promote demanding work at any given time and which meet society's demands on the police. The foundation of the operation, the cornerstone, requires particular care. With regard to criminal investigations, the foundation for the entire criminal process is the pre-trial investigation and so-called multidisciplinary investigation, which are responsible for processing a vast number of investigation reports and the actual investigation.

Professional policing can’t be taken for granted

Police officers and other public officials conducting criminal investigations expose themselves to work-related pressure, which consists of workload, its demands and even the risks posed by doing the work itself. The demands of police criminal investigation have increased over the years, and doing the work requires strong professionalism and dedication. There is also a constantly increasing need for special expertise.

It’s important that society appreciates the work done in criminal investigations and is aware that professional and reliable policing can’t be taken for granted, but that successful recruitment, training, up-to-date legislation and other tools are required to maintain it. And most important of all is dedicated and competent people.

The selection of Police Officer of the Year is not only a tribute to the person receiving the award, but is also a broader message, a token of appreciation and gratitude to those working in criminal investigations.

Minna Ketola
Assistant Police Commissioner, Head of Crime Prevention Unit
National Police Board

]]>

Police Blog

Are the police the only party whose duty it is to prevent domestic violence?

The social task of the police

What is the ability of society to address the root causes of domestic violence?

In conclusion

Help is available

The use of alpha-PVP can also be seen in road traffic

Abstract

The use of alpha-PVP has increased rapidly

Agitation, aggressiveness and unpredictable behaviour

The use of alpha-PVP can also be seen in the work of the traffic police

The whole society to solve the problem

Internship in the police: what is it like to do communication work in different parts of the police?

From strategic planning to social media posts

Communication as a vantage point to the police organisation

Diverse and educational months as a communications trainee in the police

The police in Finland use firearm with deliberation and on rare occasions

The police in Finland use a firearm on a very few occasions by international comparison

The operating environment has changed

The police have responded to the change in the operating environment

The use of a firearm is always a last resort and is done at a high threshold

Promoting the road safety culture among young people requires action from society as a whole

Statistics confirm the concern expressed by the police about the traffic behaviour of 17-year-olds

Attention in the improvement of traffic safety should be paid to the entire age group of young persons

How can we prevent young people from dying in traffic?

Towards a culture of caring

Be cautious online – cyber-enabled crime on the increase

The police have reacted to the trend in cyber-enabled crime

Preventing, detecting and solving cyber-enabled crime requires joint efforts

Excellent results in preventing online fraud in Lapland

Good experiences led to the expansion of efforts

Investigation of cybercrime requires new kind of expertise and an ability to react quickly

More about this topic

Many risks lurking for older people

Safe and dignified old age is a human right

Several successes in police traffic safety work in 2024

Police monitor traffic every day of the year

Sources

Violence, disruptive behaviour and noise cause house calls for the police at New Year

A lot of house calls on New Year’s Day

The number of house calls varies by region

Midsummer and Christmas are also busy times for the police due to house calls

Sources

Pedestrian crossing must live up to its reputation

Visibility, attitude and driving speed have a key role on pedestrian crossings

A safe pedestrian crossing is not to be taken for granted

Drivers approaching a pedestrian crossing have a heavy responsibility

How to prevent accidents?

Are you a victim or perpetrator of violence or both?

Sources

Crime prevention in villages, schools and increasingly online

Police operate covertly and visibly in compliance with the law

Police ask for tip-offs on shady online dealings

Police traffic enforcement has a social effectiveness

About enforcement carried out by the police

Effect of enforcement on traffic safety

Number of victims of drunk driving accidents and number of traffic fatalities in summer

About the development of the number of drunk driving cases

In conclusion

Sources

The most serious road traffic accidents typically occur within 80 km/h speed limit zones

Alcohol and serious accidents

Narcotics and serious accidents

Speeding beats even drugs

Sources

Traineeship at the National Police Board: Diverse communication and valuable experience

Feelings at the start of traineeship

What was it like at the National Police Board?

What were the takeaways from the traineeship for the future?

More information

What is the future of mediation – questions about mediation

What are the reasons for the intention to discontinue mediation in cases involving domestic or intimate partner violence?

Why wait for a crime to be mediated?

What about preventative mediation?

Search Engines as a tool for law enforcement to prevent youth cybercrime

Positive results from Google Ads campaigns in Finland and internationally

Efforts from IT-companies are needed

In a hurry to die and tired of life?

Hardly any change in road traffic fatalities in different road user groups

Underlying risk related to driver condition involved in a large share of fatal accidents