Police in Faroe Islands to manually review cases involving foreign nationals amid rising crime statistics

The police in the Faroe Islands have decided to manually review cases involving foreign nationals. Currently, there is no recorded data regarding the ethnicity or nationality of individuals who have been convicted or charged. Consequently, there are no statistics on how many Faroese individuals are involved in criminal activity; only figures relating to foreign offenders are available.

In May, a request was made for insight into court rulings against non-Danish citizens from 2018 to 2023. The police responded on May 10, stating that it is not possible to extract information from their electronic case management system regarding the outcomes of specific cases. The police also do not record nationality or ethnicity for those charged with legal violations.

However, the police have previously conducted manual reviews of cases typically leading to deportation. These include serious offenses such as violence, sexual assault, drug smuggling, and drunk driving. This review was initiated to check whether the number of cases involving foreigners has increased in recent years.

The data obtained reveals a steady increase in crimes committed by individuals without a Danish or Faroese personal identification number, rising from 12 cases in 2019 and 2020 to 14 in 2021, 21 in 2022, and reaching 40 in 2023. When this issue was initially brought to attention, it was noted that the rise in foreign nationals was likely the reason there was no change in the crime rate proportional to the influx of newcomers, particularly regarding violent crimes.

There is no basis to claim that foreigners are involved in more criminal cases than Faroese citizens, as no data currently exists regarding the number of cases linked to Faroese individuals.