Finnish police report sharp rise in mental health emergencies

A surge in mental health-related emergencies has overwhelmed police in Finland, with officers increasingly responding to cases where individuals in crisis cannot access timely treatment, according to a senior officer in Oulu.

Apulaispoliisipäällikkö Arto Karnaranta, who retires this autumn after 46 years in the force, told Yle that Oulu’s police department recorded over 2,100 calls last year involving suicide attempts or threats—a 500-case increase since 2020. Nationwide, such incidents have risen by 27.5% in the same period. An additional 860 calls in the past year involved officers assisting medical teams with mentally distressed individuals, a category the department only began tracking recently.

“This is a constant topic among both patrol officers and leadership,” Karnaranta said. “We do everything possible to prevent self-harm, but police have little power to address the root causes.”

He linked the rise in crises to worsening economic pressures, noting that financial strain has intensified family conflicts while drug use and youth violence have grown more severe. “Early in my career, seizing a gram of drugs was a big deal. Now we confiscate tens or hundreds of kilos,” he said.

Karnaranta, who began his career guarding the presidential palace and foreign embassies in Helsinki in 1981, warned that gaps in mental health care force police into roles they are not equipped to handle. Officers frequently escort aggressive patients to evaluations only to see them denied treatment due to insufficient criteria—sometimes encountering the same individuals in repeat crises.

His remarks come as Finland’s northern regions, including Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, report some of the longest waits for psychiatric care in the country.