Environmental offences Impairment of the environment is a crime. Environmental offences are acts that damage and endanger the environment, natural resources and the plant or animal kingdom. A typical environmental offence investigated by the polic...

Matters involving large carnivores Sometimes large carnivores (bear, wolf, wolverine, lynx) cause danger to humans. Dangerous situations related to large carnivores should be handled by the police. In practice, the police take care of assignments ...

You must demonstrate continued participation in shooting sports if your permit is valid until further notice and your intended use is: hunting, shooting sports, recreational shooting, reservist activities (training contributing to military capability), demonstrations, filming and other similar presentations and your firearm is: pistol, small-calibre pistol, revolver, small-calibre revolver, specially dangerous firearm or self-loading single-shot firearm.

Account for non-money lottery The recipient of a non-money lottery permit must make a non-money lottery account. The account shall be issued for the period of the permit granted and shall be issued within five months of the expiry of the permit. T...

7.5.2026 | The criminal investigation has covered a range of suspected offences across the territories of three reindeer herding co-operatives, including aggravated money laundering, aggravated fraud, aggravated hunting offences and an aggravated nature conservation offence.

Security stewarding You can move around in public places without fear of or interference from others and without your peace being disturbed. For this purpose, noisy and threatening conduct and carrying dangerous items or substances are not permitt...

Information for international arrivals This information is designed for people who are planning a trip to Finland and want to know about immigration rules, what travel documentation is required and how to deal with Finnish police. The Police of Fi...

The police grant permits for acquiring and possessing firearms and firearm components. Submit your firearm permit application to a police department either via online services or by visiting police station in person.

Public protests at Helsinki Airport – FAQ Public meetings and demonstrations A public meeting is typically a demonstration, or some other event arranged under the constitutional freedom of assembly. Anyone may follow a public meeting or demonstrat...

Fraud In fraud offences, the perpetrator aims to obtain financial benefits by deceiving the victim. Fraud often causes financial damage to the victim. Nowadays, there are many kinds of fraud types, and they have moved to information networks. E-ma...

5.9.2022 | When the Police has to make decisions on animals, especially large predators, the deliberation is based on valid legislation, cooperation, careful consideration and updated instructions. This is the core message of Chief Superintendent Kai Vepsäläinen in his blog published at the Police website.

22.8.2025 | Of the large carnivores living in Finland, bears and wolves in particular regularly cause work for the police. These are situations in which a bear or wolf is assessed as posing a danger to people's lives or safety. The duty of the police is to maintain public order and security, in which role they have powers under the Police Act to take measures involving animals to eliminate danger and even, as a last resort, to put an animal down.

4.11.2025 | ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME IN FINLAND Review 2024 National Working Group on Monitoring Environmental Crime 01 August 2024 2 Summary TITLE Environmental Crime Report 2024 PREPARED BY Finnish National Group for Monitoring of Environmental Offences PUBLISHE...

14.12.2023 | According to the Supreme Administrative Court’s recent decision, the Finnish Wildlife Agency’s decisions to grant exceptional licenses (derogations) for hunting bears in autumn 2022 for the purposes of population management have been in opposition to the law. In public discussion, it has been presumed that in the future, at least bears could not be hunted at all for the purposes of population management.

14.8.2024 | The waterfowl hunting season starts again at 12 noon on 20 August. The police will carry out an intensive monitoring operation of waterfowl hunting across the country in cooperation with other authorities on 20–25 August 2024.

4.10.2023 | Towards the end of the year, Police University College will organize, for the first time, a national continuing education course on investigation of animal welfare offenses. More than 30 police officers from all parts of Finland will attend the course alongside criminal investigators from the Border Guard and special prosecutors and district court judges from the National Prosecution Authority.

20.2.2020 | It is everyone’s responsibility to take care of animal welfare – the police investigate offences committed against animals through tip-offs and cooperation between authorities

2.10.2023 | The police will carry out intensified elk and deer hunting controls during 7-29 October 2023 in cooperation with other wilderness supervisory authorities responsible for hunting and fishing issues.

27.6.2023 | The Midsummer weekend was celebrated in warm weather throughout the country, but fortunately that was not reflected in the number of drownings: only two cases were reported to the police, two less than at Midsummer weekend in 2022. However, six people died in road traffic over Midsummer this year, four more than in 2022. The number of those injured was 33, 21 less than over Midsummer 2022.

16.8.2023 | Police to supervise the start of waterfowl and bear hunting season from 20 to 21 August 2023