From field work to training provider and developer

Superintendent Sami Hätönen, Chief of the Competence in public order and security unit
Police University College
Master of Public Administration, Bachelor in Police Command
The Police Officer of the Year 2025 

Back in the day, I wrote an article for the entrance examination book of the Police University College with the title “Aina poliisi” (Always a policeman), because as a police officer’s son, I feel that I have grown into this profession as early as my childhood. However, this career choice was not self-evident, because the photography and video photography hobby that began in my childhood could also have become a professional career. Now I can say that I was fortunate, because I actually got both professions. 

My almost 28 years as a police officer have been rewarding, and I wouldn’t change a single day. Photography has remained a hobby and a side thing, but I have also managed to combine it with police work. One of the great things about police work is its versatile nature. This work is much more comprehensive by nature than what is generally thought. It is great to see how people of different ages and with different educational and work backgrounds want to go into police education. This is one of our strengths.

I can say that Finnish police education is the best in the world. It provides all the knowledge and skills needed for basic police tasks. In Finland, a single police patrol is generally able to carry out all tasks independently from the beginning to the end while elsewhere it requires several police officers specialising in different areas.

Public order and security took me away

I have worked throughout my career in tasks related to public order and security. I got my first experience with field work as early as during my police studies, in 1997, when I spent my holidays working as a police officer in Lahti and Porvoo. I did the practical training that was part of my studies in Joensuu, and after graduating as a police officer, I got a job in my home town Hyvinkää. Patience was not really my strong suit, so I volunteered for all possible tasks. As a patrol partner of a police dog handler, I immediately got to work on hard assignments: speed and dangerous situations were what the young man wanted. On the other hand, the duties of a local police officer brought a good counterbalance and variety to everyday work. I also worked as a driving instructor and in many other additional tasks. However, my best memories of field work are, somewhat surprisingly, related to being in the bicycle police. In that job, you do not run out of things to do, and you can really interact with people.

I became interested in leadership right at the beginning of my career, and with only a few years of experience, I managed to get into police sergeant’s education. This was one of the most significant turning points in my career. Working as a team leader and field commander taught me how to do that work, and I soon found myself wanting more responsibility and impact. I applied for and was accepted to commanding officer studies, and I started working as a chief inspector as early as during my studies. I was something of an odd thing in 2005: a chief inspector under the age of thirty.

With the commanding officer position, my field of work also expanded to traffic safety and criminal investigation, and I was able to participate in various national working groups and development projects. That was also the period that coincided with the hardest and saddest leadership position of my career, the Jokela school shootings in 2007.

Then I got a telephone call from the Police University College that changed the direction of my career. At the beginning of 2008, I started at the Police University College as a teacher and expert in the management of public order and security operations. This task was a wish come true from the very beginning: I was able to develop the management system of the field operations of the police and, of course, their leadership skills. Working at the Police University College has been a true vantage point for the activities of the Finnish police. It has provided excellent opportunities to establish networks with police officers working in different tasks and units, but also with other authorities and parties.

To the National Police Board to develop drone operations

In the spring of 2015, I received another telephone call, this time from the National Police Board. I started working with surveillance and emergency operations and the technology used in them, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in police operations was one of the things that needed to be developed. At that time, most people were familiar with drones mainly from science fiction films, and the police only had aviation expertise in the role of passengers. However, the use of drones had already been successfully experimented with in the field. I put together a group of enthusiastic police officers, and we began to actively learn more about drone technology and examine its possibilities and requirements for its deployment. We conducted excellent co-operation in particular with the Finnish Defence Forces, the Finnish Border Guard and the rescue services, but also with Traficom and other aviation experts. We also resorted to competence available in other parts of the world.

The use of drones quickly provided good results. A little surprisingly, we became the world’s leading country in this area in just a few years. Word of our success spread, and I was able to tell about our experiences even in distant places. Since then, other countries have followed Finland’s lead, and drones have become part of police equipment all over the world.

This success was the result of an open-minded culture of experimentation, genuinely agile development and excellent co-operation. It indicated how new tools can be introduced to support police work without heavy and expensive development projects. With this knowledge and as the unmanned aviation operations of the police turned 10 years old, we decided this autumn at the Police University College to start testing the use of a remotely operated drone system in police operations. Now it is our turn to learn from others.

Back to the Police University College

After a few years at the National Police Board, I decided to return to the Police University College. After all, I felt that it was more meaningful to develop competence rather than the things we do, and when my long-term colleague and mentor retired, I wanted to continue the work we did together to develop operational management. Unmanned aviation still remained in my responsibilities.

The organisation of the Police University College was renewed at the beginning of 2024, and all education and personnel related to public order and security were brought together to the same unit. I was chosen as the head of that unit. Even though my everyday work is now mostly filled with supervisory tasks, I am happy to be able to develop the police and the competence of police personnel in an even more effective manner than before. Being a national unit of the police, the Police University College offers excellent opportunities for this. It is great to do work that has a nation-wide impact.

I am proud of my employer, the Finnish police, its top experts and the excellent results of our work. But even good things can be made better. That is why development is important and change is an opportunity. If there’s a will, there’s a way – if there’s no will, you come up with excuses. And I have a will.