Crime in Finland

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Crime in Finland. According to the ministry of the interior, Finland is one of the safest countries in Europe^{[citation needed]}. In Finland, 103 crimes per 1,000 people are reported annually, which is third highest in the world^{[citation needed]}. (Note: crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than indicators of actual criminality.) Finland also has the highest homicide rate per capita in Western Europe, being three times that of in Switzerland for example.

Contents 1 Statistics 2 Manslaughter, murder, homicide 3 Guns 4 Assaults and rapes 5 Theft, robbery 6 Economic crime 7 Organized crime 8 Punishment 9 Rate of incarceration 10 Police 11 Alcohol and criminality 12 See also 13 References 14 External links

[edit] Statistics

Offences recorded by the police⁶⁾

	1980	1990	2000	2004	2004 per 1,000 people5)
All offences	480,964	848,978	763,391	787,964	150.46
Offences against the Penal Code1)	221,106	435,154	4)530,270	540,867	103.28
Manslaughter, murder, homicide	111	145	146	144	0.028
Assault	13,964	20,654	27,820	29,806	5.69
Theft, robbery	103,024	166,266	196,009	166,095	31.71
Drunken driving	20,436	29,759	22,783	26,977	5.15
Offences involving narcotics2)	955	2,546	13,445	14,486	2.77
Traffic infractions	3)215,281	3)367,571	4)214,543	218,723	41.77
Other offences	44,577	46,253	18,578	28,374	5.42

¹⁾ From 1999 onwards, offences against the Penal code contain offences previously recorded under the Road Traffic Act. ²⁾ In the Penal Code as of 1994 ³⁾ Traffic offences ⁴⁾ line across a time series shows substantial breaks in the homogeneity of a series ⁵⁾ Population of Finland by the end of year 2004 was 5,237,000 ⁶⁾ these statistics are from official statistics Finland database[4], but the numbers don't add up, so some data is missing.

[edit] Manslaughter, murder, homicide

Homicides can be classified into four main types. Half of the crimes involve men of marginalized groups (unemployed, under educated, drug and alcohol problems) in heavy drinking situations where they end up in a quarrel and stab or batter each other to death. 35% of homicides occur in the family. Long term alcohol problems and low social status are again a major catalyst in these situations. 10% is youth crime. The rest are other cases.^[1]

A bit over a quarter of victims and one out of ten offenders are women. In almost all cases where a woman is the offender the victim is the husband or some other family member. In male offender cases 23 percent of the victims were strangers. Less than 20 percent of the crimes are made outdoors. 60 percent of the male and 30 percent of the female homicide offenders have been arrested for drunken driving at least once.^{[citation needed]}

Firearms are used in 14% of the cases. Street shootings and gang violence are mostly unknown. A few cases involving motorcycle gangs have occurred in recent years These cases attract national attention.

[edit] Guns

Main article: Gun politics in Finland

Finns have third most firearms in the world per capita (right after United States and Yemen), totalling over 2 million registered privately owned firearms. Gun related homicides are rare, comprising 14 percent of the total number of homicides, which is comparatively low.

Guns and other weapons are tightly regulated. One must separately apply for a gun license, which cannot be given for "security reasons". Membership of a shooting or hunting club, or owning hunting lands is required. Even other weapons, such as pepper sprays, are regulated. Carrying weapons, including guns and knives, in public is not allowed.

[edit] Assaults and rapes

In 2005, 594 cases of rape (114 ppm), 380 cases of other sex crime and 946 cases of statutory rape were reported to the police.^[2] 27.0% of rapes have been committed by foreigners in Finland, who comprise 2.2% of population.^[3]

[edit] Theft, robbery

[edit] Economic crime

[edit] Organized crime

The Obtshak, a consortium of the Estonian Mafia and Russian Mafia holds a prostitution monopoly in Finland. They may also employ Finns as "minders", that is, gangsters.

There are several competing motorcycle gangs in Finland. Bandidos MC and Hell's Angels are international gangs, and Rogues Gallery is a Finnish gang from Lahti. Drug trade and security services are their sources of income.

Some criminals have attempted to found "Finland's mafia", but the same are currently in jail.

[edit] Punishment

The most common punishments are fines, and probation. Community service is also a punishment. These are generally effective in preventing repetition of an offence. The day fine system is in effect; this means, that if an offence warrants fines, they are calculated in proportion to the offender's income, when this is higher than the minimum fine.

Lengths of prison sentences have been on a rise in recent years. Prison term are, however, exceptionally short in the international context. Drug trafficking and manslaughter result in the longest prison sentences, of 8-9 years, after premeditated murder. Although life sentences are given for murder, probation is given after 12 years at the earliest. Therefore, effective life sentences are enforced in only cases of involuntary commitment of murderers.

The last time capital punishment has been enforced in peacetime is in 1825. In the Finnish Civil War (1918) and in the wars of the Second World War (1939-1945) capital punishment has been enforced. The death penalty was abolished in 1971.

[edit] Rate of incarceration

In 2004 there were on average 3577 prisoners serving a sentence (68 per 100,000 people (over ten times less than in the United States)). Average age was 35. Since 1999 the number of prisoners has risen 30 per cent. Average length of sentence until release was 7,8 months. The number of prison guards is approximately 1600 (total staff 2800).

[edit] Police

Finland has only 147 police officers per 100,000 people. The United States has 243 per 100,000 and Germany has 290. In 2004, police officers accounted for 7718 of the total police personnel.

[edit] Alcohol and criminality

The majority of criminals and victims have been under the influence of alcohol during the act of violent crime. Statistics show that in homicides 61-75 percent, in attempted homicides 71-78 percent and in assaults 71-73 percent of the offenders have been under the influence of alcohol. During the last two decades the number of drunk offenders in these crimes has been increasing. Roughly half of crimes of theft involve the use of alcohol.

[edit] See also

Gun politics in Finland

[edit] References

1. ^ Martti Lehti, Janne Kivivuori. Rikollisuustilanne Suomessa — II.A.2. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos 2005. [1]
2. ^ Heini Kainulainen. Rikollisuustilanne Suomessa — II.A.4.1. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos 2005. [2]
3. ^ Hannu Niemi. Rikollisuustilanne Suomessa — II.B.3. Oikeuspoliittinen tutkimuslaitos 2005. [3]

• Number of police officers
• Alcohol and criminality in Finland (in Finnish) PDF
• Number of firearms in Finland (in Finnish)
• Comparison of homicides in Finland and Ireland (in Finnish)
• Statistics by the criminal sanctions agency

[edit] External links

• Finnish crime statistics (NationsMaster.com)
• Statistics Finland, Justice and crime statistics