Internationalism develops you

Chief inspector Pasi Aho 
Ostrobothnia Police Department, police services line

I became interested in police work as a young man when I was in the army and had to think about what I wanted to do when I grew up. Working as a police officer seemed like a practical and secure job, where you could make a lifelong career. Of course, as a young man I also fancied the idea of speed and dangerous situations. The picture was perhaps a little rosy - after all, the work is much more than that.

I’ve been in the police since 1990. For the first few years, I worked in a mobile police airport unit. International assignments have been of interest since the very start of my career. My first exposure to international assignments was in the mid-1990s, when I was part of a traditional peacekeeping mission in Southern Lebanon for just over a year as a platoon leader. The experience opened up to me the kind of opportunities and career paths international assignments can offer to the police. In 2000, I again went on international assignments again for a year in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where I was in military positions, not in traditional peacekeeping missions, but in coordinating cooperation between soldiers and civilians. After that mission, my focus shifted more to civilian crisis management missions. 

Various stages in life resulted in my being admitted to the basic course in civilian crisis management in 2017, and in 2020 I went to Palestine on a EUPOL COPPS mission. There I first worked as a police expert for six months, where my main responsibility was to support the local police in strategic planning. Following that, I was appointed head of the police component of the operation, which lasted two years. I found it very interesting, but also challenging, to head a multinational unit. During those 30 months, I learnt a lot about leadership and working in a multicultural environment. I made a huge number of good international colleagues and lifelong friends.

I’ve worked practically my whole career in the surveillance and emergency services sector in a variety of roles, also as an officer, senior officer and commanding officer. I’m currently working here in Ostrobothnia as head of the surveillance and alarm operations sector and the traffic police sector. Sitting on two sector manager stools is very much a human resources management job, which involves strategic development and planning reforms. My work is really interesting and meaningful. I’ve excellent people under me and a well-functioning organisation. I really like my job and feel that I’m currently in the right job and position, but I also believe that I’ll continue to apply for international positions in the future.

Few jobs offer as many different opportunities as the police. There are a huge number of different areas of policing that you can specialise in if you want, as well as an exceptionally wide range of different duties. The Finnish police also have a good reputation internationally, and our expertise is valued around the world. In the eyes of our other colleagues in Europe, we have a reputation for being a trusted player - we can always be trusted. I very much hope that there will be more Finns around the world to take our expertise forward.