Government Programme measures in the police sector

Changes in the security environment require that operational police work be strengthened. All of society depends on the ability of the police to operate at all times. 

The aim is to ensure equal access to police services in similar areas throughout Finland – whether they concern emergencies, surveillance, criminal investigation or permits and licences.

The police are the leading internal security authority and they are fully prepared to operate around the clock. The police identify security threats in advance and respond to them in all situations. The police also play a key role in countering hybrid threats.

Today, the police are faced with continually evolving forms of crime. Crime is becoming more international, harsher and digitalised, and is constantly changing. In addition to traditional forms of crime, the police combat organised, international and online crime. It is important that the police also employ enough experts who support police work, such as cyber experts. 

Ensuring a well-functioning and effective exchange of information is important for the activities of the police and other national authorities.

According to the Government Programme, the Government will remove obstacles to the exchange of information in the combating of crime and increase the possibilities for the police to disclose non-disclosable information to various public authorities to prevent crime and to guarantee security.

The legislative project on the exchange of information will prepare the necessary amendments to the Police Act and the Act on the Processing of Personal Data by the Police. In addition, the exchange of information between the authorities is being discussed in several other government projects.

Criminal intelligence measures are a key tool for the police, especially in the fight against serious crime. These include serious drug-related crime and its related negative impacts, different hybrid threats to internal security, and threats that cause serious danger to the life or health of a great number of people.

The aim is to ensure that the police have sufficient powers to combat changing threats to internal security. The project will assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the secret intelligence collection methods used by the police and the possibilities of efficiently gathering information to protect internal security.

The preconditions for the use of biometric data will be assessed because such data would be useful in investigating serious crimes. The use of fingerprint data and automated facial recognition makes it possible to identify a person more reliably than other methods. 

The use of register data could make the investigations of serious offences, such as homicides, more efficient. Image and video data have become increasingly important in the combating of crime as the digitalisation of society has progressed.

The aim is to combat the rise in youth and street gang crime in Finland. Effective prevention can deter future crime.

A joint action plan, which was prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice, aims to effectively prevent youth and gang crime, break the circle of crime, investigate crimes, increase punishments and enforce criminal liability. Police resources to combat youth crime have already been increased, and these resources have helped the police to improve the efficiency of their operations. 

Close cooperation between different authorities is needed to combat youth crime. The Government Programme aims to expand and improve the effectiveness of the current preventive Anchor work.

In addition, Nordic practices will be explored to improve the combating of crime and the flow of information.