Crime in Finland

Murder

In 2015, Finland had a murder rate of 1.28 per 100,000 population. There were a total of 70 murders in Finland in 2015.

Half of murders involve men of marginalized groups (unemployed, undereducated, drug and alcohol problems) in heavy drinking situations. Thirty-five percent of homicides are committed by family members, and ten percent of homicides are classified as youth violence.

Women constitute 10 percent of offenders and 25 percent of victims. The vast majority of female offenders target a husband or other family member. Twenty-three percent of homicide victims of male offenders were strangers. Fewer than 20 percent of murders are committed outdoors. Sixty percent of male and 30 percent of the female homicide offenders have been arrested for drunken driving at least once.

Firearms are used in 14 percent of the cases. Street shootings and gang violence are extremely rare. A few cases involving motorcycle gangs have occurred in recent years, attracting national attention.

Sexual violence

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. According to official statistics, 27.0% of rapes have been committed by foreigners in Finland, who comprise 2.2% of population. In contrast, the rape support helpline Tukinainen reports that 6% of all callers and 11% of 10–20-year-old callers say that the rapist was a foreigner. Finnish rapists are more likely to be known personally by the victim, increasing the threshold to report. Furthermore, there are great asymmetries between nationalities of rapists.

Financial crime

Finland has been known to give low sentences for financial crimes such as cartel behaviour, insider trading, and tax evasion. The sentences are especially low when compared with the potential benefits of committing such crimes, as well as when compared with international standards. An example of the difference between sentence and benefits is the case of Lemminkäinen in 2006. Lemminkäinen was hit with a €68,000,000 fine for cartel. This was markedly lower than the estimated €400,000,000 Lemminkäinen would have made if receiving just 20% of the criminal profit. Executives were not sentenced to prison or fined for their involvement.

Examples of cartels in Finland include: Metsäliitto and Stora Enso who were sentenced €500,000 and Elisa which was sentenced €4,160,000 in 2001. The European Union has given much higher sanctions for cartels, as seen in the cases of UPM-Kymmene (€56,000,000), Outokumpu (€36,000,000), and Kemira (€33,000,000).

Corruption

Political corruption levels are extremely low and previously Finland was annually named the least corrupted country for years. The number of notices of corruption related crimes were lower than the murder rate in 2007—there were about 15 reports of bribery or attempted bribery annually. In 2006, there were 115 reports of corruption. One fourth of these involved seeking private gain. One-third of the cases were attempts to harm someone rather than seek gain. Between 2002 and 2007, no corporations were fined and no business prohibitions were imposed for committing bribery.

A campaign funding controversy that began in 2008 has eroded the confidence in the transparency of Finnish politics. Finland's Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index ranking has dropped to 5th place. The continuing controversy began with a remark by a Centre Party MP that he had not disclosed his funding sources, because despite the obligation, there was no punishment for avoiding it coded in the law. Later it was found a group of property developers had supported certain MPs of the three major parties (Centre Party, National Coalition and Social Democratic Party) allegedly to produce favorable zoning decisions.

Furthermore, MPs of the government-leading Centre Party had funneled public funds to party-associated foundations that had subsequently funded the personal campaigns of Centre Party politicians, including Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. There are criminal investigations ongoing by the National Bureau of Investigation. Incomplete disclosure of funding sources was the problem of the two other major parties.

Organized crime

The Obtshak, a consortium of the Estonian Mafia (principally of Russian groups ethnic or origins) and Russian Mafia is involved in prostitution in Finland. They may also employ Finns as "minders" (gangsters).

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

Guns

Finns have the fourth most firearms in the world per capita (right after United States, Yemen, Switzerland) totalling 1.62 million registered privately owned firearms and 10,000–20,000 unregistered firearms. Gun related homicides are rare, comprising 14% 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 issued for "self defense reasons". Even other weapons, such as pepper sprays, are regulated. Carrying weapons, including guns and knives, in public is not allowed.

Alcohol and criminality

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

Statistics

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 increased in recent years, though Finnish prison terms are 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 10 years at the earliest, excluding the possibility of presidential amnesty. Therefore, effective life sentences are enforced in only cases of involuntary commitment of murderers.

The last time capital punishment was enforced in peacetime is in 1825 (see: Tahvo Putkonen). In the Finnish Civil War (1918) and in the wars of World War II (1939–1945) capital punishment was enforced. The death penalty was abolished in 1971.

Rate of incarceration

In 2004 there were on average 3,577 prisoners serving a sentence (68 prisoners per 100,000 people). The average prisoner age was 35. Since 1999 the number of prisoners has risen 30 per cent. The average length of sentence until release was 7.8 months.

Policing

Finland has 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 7,718 of the total police personnel.