The Police of Finland (, ) is a national

government agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...

responsible for general

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

matters in the

Republic of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Both ...

. The Police of Finland is subordinate to the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

and consists of the National Police Board (, ), two national police units and 11 local police departments. On October 1, 2003, the Public Order Act went into effect, standardizing public ordinances throughout the country.

Local police departments

Fallesmanni_police_%26_court_bldg_Seinajoki

The police is divided into police departments, which encompass the area of multiple

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

; municipalities do not have police forces of their own. The function of each police department is to maintain general law and order, prevent crime, investigate crime and other events that threaten public order and safety, to carry out traffic control and surveillance and promote traffic safety, and perform all other duties prescribed by law or otherwise assigned to the police in their area. Local police departments are organized into uniformed patrol police (, literally "order police") and criminal investigation police (, literally "criminal police"). Local police also processes licenses and permits such as gun licenses, national ID cards and passports, and furthermore, enforces immigration decisions by the Finnish Immigration Service. Local police must also be notified when organizing public events that may significantly influence local public security and traffic. Driving licenses were once issued by the local police, but since 2016 are issued by Traficom (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency). Alarm services are operated by Emergency Response Centres managed by the

in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Local police departments as of 2014: * Lapland Police Department (

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

) *Central Finland Police Department (headquarters in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

) * Eastern Finland Police Department (

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

) * Eastern Uusimaa Police Department (

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

) *

Helsinki Police Department The Helsinki Police Department (HPD) (Finnish: Helsingin poliisilaitos) is the department of the Police of Finland in charge of the Finnish capital of Helsinki. Its responsibilities include enforcing the law and providing security for the city. Th ...

(

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) * Häme Police Department (

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

) * Ostrobothnia Police Department (

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

) * Oulu Police Department (

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

) * Southeastern Finland Police Department (

Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...

) * Southwestern Finland Police Department (

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

) * Western Uusimaa Police Department (

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

) In addition,

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

has its own police department which falls under the responsibility of the

Government of Åland The ''Landskapsregering'' is the government of Åland, an autonomous region of Finland. The government is led by a Lantråd, the premier of Åland, who is elected by the '' Lagting'', the parliament of Åland. List of Premiers of Åland (since 1 ...

(see

law enforcement in Åland Law enforcement in Åland is the responsibility of the Police Authority of the Åland Islands, a unit independent of the mainland Finnish National Police (as per the ''Act on the Autonomy of Åland, 1991''), which answers to the Åland unit of th ...

National police units

Mauno_Koivisto_funeral_ceremony_(Helsinki;_2017-05-25)_24

Poliisimoottoripyörä_Suomen_rallin_testierikoiskokeella

The National Bureau of Investigation (, ) is responsible for major criminal investigations and certain types of specialist services such as fingerprint recognition. The NBI was formed in 1954 to assist the country's other police elements in efforts against crime, particularly that of a serious or deeply rooted nature. A special concern of the NBI is white-collar crime. To carry out its mission, the force has advanced technical means at its disposal, and it maintains Finland's fingerprint and identification files. The NBI is not a part of the police, instead it is a separate nationwide law enforcement agency which assists local police with investigations. .Text from PD source: US Library of Congress:
A Country Study: Finland
', Library of Congress Call Number DL1012 .A74 1990. The Police University College (, ) in

is responsible for police training, research and development. The

Finnish Security Intelligence Service The Finnish Security Intelligence Service ( fi, Suojelupoliisi, Supo; ), formerly the Finnish Security Police, is the security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism, ...

(, ) is responsible for national security and the investigation of related crimes. The Supo was moved directly under the Ministry of the Interior in 2016. The National Traffic Police (, ) was folded into the local police in 2013, thus local police is also responsible for highway patrol. Originally, local police districts were very small and had limited resources, so a separate mobile police organization was founded for riot control, alcohol law enforcement and reserve force duties. Political reliability and independence from local strongmen was also important because of the threat from fascists; indeed, the first task was to escort former president K.J. Ståhlberg back to his home after he was kidnapped by the Lapua Movement. This organization later evolved into a highway patrol. However, because of mergers, local police departments had become larger. Thus, the separate national organization was deemed redundant and traffic police units were subordinated to the local police departments instead, without change in the actual number of highway patrol officers.

Other nationally active formations

Special Intervention Unit (), also known as "Bear Squad" (), is a specialized armed response unit. It is officially part of the Helsinki Police Department. In June 2008, the Finnish police established a Police Incident Response Team tasked with improving the prevention, detection and management of serious information security incidents. Vaativan ajotavan valvonta, also known as VATV- unit is a group of highly trained police officers specialized in high-speed driving and pursuits. The unit holds several unmarked high-performance cars ranging from 280 to 340 horsepower.

Police ranks

The Finnish police uses the following ranks: Criminal investigators prefix their ranks with ''rikos-'', "Detective", literally "Crime", e.g. ''rikostarkastaja''. Rank insignia on the shoulder epaulettes is all silver on blue with a silver button. The rank insignia for Senior Constable is a single bar, added with two chevrons for Sergeant. Police officers have bordered rows of oak leaves, with a Lion of Finland next to them. Additionally, on the collar there is pentagonal insignia that always has the emblem with laurel leaves and a border, but with colors slightly varying with rank; officers have a border around the pentagon.

Equipment

* Glock 17, (is being replaced with Walther P99Q) * Heckler & Koch MP5, (is being replaced with

CZ Scorpion Evo 3 The Scorpion EVO 3 is a 9mm carbine manufactured by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod, the select-fire submachine gun variant is designated A1, and the semi-automatic variant is designated S1. The EVO 3 designation denotes that the firearm is a ...

) * Heckler & Koch G36C *

Taser X26 A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed d ...

FN 303 The FN 303 is a semi-automatic less-lethal riot gun designed and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal. The FN 303 uses compressed air to fire projectiles from a 15-round drum magazine. It is designed to incapacitate the target through b ...

* Baton * Pepper spray * TETRA *

Handcuffs Handcuffs are Physical restraint, restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a Link chain, chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm whi ...

* Light and heavy armor

Vehicles

The most common patrol vehicle of police in Finland is Volkswagen Transporter, usually with 2.5 L diesel engines. In 2002 about one third of Finnish police cars were Transporters. Transporters are also used by border guards, customs, and sotilaspoliisi (military police). Due to the bilingualism of the country, the right side of the vehicles is marked in Finnish language (POLIISI), the left side is marked in Swedish language (POLIS). The siren used for the Finnish police cars are also used for the police of Sweden. Mercedes-Benz G280 CDI LAPV 5

Current vehicles of the Finnish police

* Ford Kuga (unmarked) * Ford Focus (

unmarked police car A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...

s) *

Audi A8 The Audi A8 is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by the German automaker Audi since 1994. Succeeding the Audi V8, and now in its fourth generation, the A8 has been offered with both front- or permanent all-wheel drive—and in s ...

(unmarked) * Mercedes-Benz E-class (unmarked units in

. Used mostly as escort cars *

BMW 7 series The BMW 7 Series is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by the German automaker BMW since 1977. It is the successor to the BMW E3 "New Six" sedan and is now in its seventh generation. The 7 Series is BMW's flagship car and is on ...

(used mostly as unmarked escort cars for the

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...

) *

Citroën Berlingo The Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner are a range of multi-purpose vehicles produced by the PSA Group and later by Stellantis. They are sold both as panel vans for use as commercial vehicles and as a passenger variant with rear seats and win ...

(used as mobile speed camera units in

) * Ford Mondeo (2012–2018 models) * Ford Ranger (unmarked, in use in Helsinki) *

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in ...

(used as material transport by

department and one in Kristinestad, used also by Bear Squad) * Opel Vectra (not in use, stored as reserve vehicles) * Opel Movano (unmarked, used by

Pohjanmaa Pohjanmaa ( sv, Österbotten, links=no, en, Ostrobothnia) is a Finnish word meaning "lowlands", and may refer to: Former entities * Pohjanmaa, former name of Ostrobothnia (historical province), comprising a large western and northern part of mode ...

departments and Bear Squad) *

Škoda Octavia The Škoda Octavia is a small family car produced by the Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto since the end of 1996. It shares its name with an earlier model produced between 1959 and 1971. Four generations of the modern-era Octavia model have ...

(2013–2018 models, including Skoda octavia VRS and -scout) *

Škoda Superb The Škoda Superb is a large family car that has been produced by the Czech car manufacturer Škoda Auto since 2001. The first generation of the modern Superb, produced from 2001 to 2008, was based on the VW B5 PL45+ platform. The second gener ...

(2017– models, including Škoda superb sportline) * Ford Tourneo Connect (used as mobile speed camera cars and also used unmarked in Helsinki) * Toyota Avensis *

Toyota Corolla Verso The Toyota Corolla Verso is a car produced by the Japanese carmaker Toyota between 2001 and 2009. A compact MPV, the first-generation Corolla Verso sold in Europe was a rebadged Japanese market Toyota Corolla Spacio (E120), second-generation Coro ...

(unmarked police cars used in the Helsinki region) *

Mitsubishi Outlander The is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors. It was originally known as the when it was introduced in Japan in 2001. The original Airtrek name was chosen to "describe the vehicle's ability to transpo ...

(in use as unmarked backup cars in Helsinki) * Mitsubishi Pajero (unmarked cars in Helsinki) *

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

(Used by Bear Squad) *

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although they ...

(unmarked police cars in

, also used by Bear Squad) *

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...

(in use at the

department) * Nissan Navara (unmarked police cars, mostly in use for personnel transport in Helsinki) * Nissan Primastar (unmarked, mostly used as a backup in emergency situations around Helsinki) *

Nissan qashqai The Nissan Qashqai () is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) developed and produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2006. The first generation of the vehicle was sold under the name in Japan and Australia, and Qashqai in other marke ...

(unmarked) * Volkswagen Passat (regular-, alltrack- and r-line models) *

Volkswagen Caddy The Volkswagen Caddy is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle (M-segment) produced by the German automaker Volkswagen Group since 1980. It is sold in Europe and in other markets around the world. The Volkswagen Caddy was first introduced in Nor ...

(mobile speed camera units and unmarked police cars) * Volkswagen Tiguan (unmarked police vehicles. Including VW Tiguan R-Line) *

Volkswagen Golf Variant Volkswagen has marketed station wagon, estate/station wagon variants of its Volkswagen Golf, Golf model since its third generation in 1993, through its current eight generation. Volkswagen marketed the station wagon as Jetta Sportwagen and later ...

(used as unmarked police cars) * Volkswagen E-Golf (in use in Helsinki) *

Volkswagen Transporter The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the Volkswagen Group's T platform, now in its seventh generation, refers to a series of vans produced for over 70 years and marketed worldwide. The T series is now considered an official list of Volkswagen Gr ...

(different variants, for example, K9, office and LGV monitoring units) *

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle ( van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, ...

(LGV monitoring and riot control capabilities) *

Mercedes-Benz G-Class The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, sometimes colloquially called the G-Wagen (as an abbreviation of Geländewagen) is a four-wheel drive automobile manufactured by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch) in Austria and sold by Mercedes-Benz. Originall ...

(used by Bear Squad) * Mercedes-Benz G280 LAPV Enok (used by Bear Squad) *

Mercedes-Benz CLS The Mercedes-Benz CLS (initially called the CLS-Class) is a series of executive cars produced by Mercedes-Benz since 2004. The original model was a four-door fastback sedan based on the E-Class platform, marketed as a four door coupé. An esta ...

Volvo V70 The Volvo V70 is an executive car manufactured and marketed by Volvo Cars from 1996 to 2016 across three generations. The name ''V70'' combines the letter ''V'', standing for ''versatility'', and ''70'', denoting relative platform size (i.e., a ...

Ford Focus ST The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact world car, vehicle world ...

* Mercedes-Benz Vito (2019–) *

Hyundai Ioniq electric The Hyundai Ioniq is a compact five-door liftback manufactured and marketed by Hyundai. The nameplate ''Ioniq'' is a portmanteau of '' ion'' and ''unique''. It is marketed as the first automobile to be offered without a standard internal combus ...

(unmarked) * Volkswagen Touran (unmarked) *

BMW 5 series The BMW 5 Series is an executive car manufactured and marketed by BMW since 1972, succeeding the New Class Sedans, and currently in its seventh generation. The 5 Series was initially available as a sedan, with a wagon/estate body style (market ...

Volvo S90 The Volvo S90 is an Executive car, executive sedan manufactured and marketed by Swedish automaker Volvo Cars since 2016. Its station wagon, estate variant is called the Volvo V90. Models For the model year of 2017 (the first model year), a shor ...

* Toyota RAV4 Marked police motorcycles are usually either BMW K1200 RS, Yamaha FJR 1300,

Yamaha FZ1 The Yamaha FZ1 is a naked bike made by Yamaha Motor Company in Japan. First generation (FZS1000 Fazer; 2001–2005) First generation models are known as the ''FZ1'' in the United States and ''FZS1000 Fazer'' in Europe. They have tubular steel ...

Yamaha XT660 The Yamaha XT660 is dual-purpose on/off road motorcycles released by Yamaha Motors as a replacement for the XT600. It is a development of the original XT series ('X' stands for 4 strokes, 'T' for TRAIL), a line of motorcycles inspired by those ...

Honda VFR1200 The Honda VFR1200F is the 7th generation Honda sport touring motorcycle from the VF and VFR line motorcycles powered by a transverse mounted V4 engine. The VFR1200F has several new technologies including the first dual clutch transmission offer ...

KTM 1190 Adventure The KTM 1190 Adventure is a 1195 cc V-twin adventure touring motorcycle from the Austrian manufacturer KTM. The model was revealed at the October 2012 Intermot trade show for the 2014 model year. The motor is based on the powerplant in the R ...

models. Unmarked motorcycles are Yamaha YZF1000R Thunderace- and Yamaha YZF-R1 models. Motorcycles are used in pursuit situations. The quad bikes are also used in service, mostly used are

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

Sportsman and

Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...

. Additionally, Finnish police operates snowmobiles,

water scooter A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...

s and boats. Helsinki department also has a

mounted police Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in the ...

unit.

References

External links

* (English)
(Police) Study based on a citizen survey in Finland
{{Europe topic, Law enforcement in Law enforcement agencies of Finland