Häkkänen demands full police review after recent use-of-force cases

Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has demanded a comprehensive police review of recent incidents involving the use of force, Yle reports. He said police guidance, leadership systems, operating practices and training must be assessed.

“It is now the police’s task to investigate whether its own instructions, leadership system, operating practices and training are at a sufficient level for different use-of-force situations,” Häkkänen said.

Häkkänen spoke during the National Coalition Party’s ministerial group summer meeting, which is being held this week in Tampere and Lahti. The ministers met at Lahti City Hall on Wednesday.

Yle sought a comment from Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, also of the National Coalition Party, but his staff referred the matter to Häkkänen.

Police oversight and direction fall under the Interior Ministry, led by Finns Party Interior Minister Mari Rantanen. As defence minister, Häkkänen is responsible within the government for monitoring the ministry’s work from outside.

Police conduct has dominated headlines in recent weeks. On August 8, at a moped gathering in Tuusula, police forced a moped rider into a ditch. An officer is suspected of aggravated causing of injury, endangering traffic safety and breach of official duty.

Last week, police pointed a weapon at a man who had opened the door of an unmarked police car. The state prosecutor is investigating whether there is reason to suspect a police officer of a crime.

On Tuesday, Yle reported that a man with an intellectual disability had died after police used a conducted energy weapon on him.

Häkkänen said it was clear that police must comply with the law and that the use of force must be proportionate.

“It is clear that public discussion is creating doubt and distrust, so a thorough investigation by the police is appropriate,” he said.

Häkkänen declined to comment directly on whether the police themselves had acted in a way that undermined trust. He referred, however, to Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki’s statement that police operations in the recent cases had not been entirely successful.

Häkkänen said he did not want to draw conclusions before the investigations were complete.

“Finland nevertheless has Europe’s most trusted security authorities, and trust in administration and lawful conduct is one of Finland’s strengths. Conclusions should not be rushed,” he said.

Criticism of police use of force and conduct has surfaced before. In March, Yle’s investigative journalism programme MOT published a report examining police violence over a 10-year period.

According to the report, police officers have been convicted numerous times of causing injury or assault while on duty. Some of the acts were directed at children.

Party secretary blames summer debates for falling support

The National Coalition Party’s ministerial meeting has also been overshadowed by declining polling figures.

The party’s support fell to 16.5 per cent in a poll published by Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday. In Yle’s poll published at the beginning of August, support for the party stood at 17 per cent. The samples and margins of error differ between polling organisations.

National Coalition Party secretary Maggie Keskinen said she believed the result showed that the party was paying a price for the debates of the summer.

She was referring, among other things, to disputes between the National Coalition Party and the Finns Party over issues including the criteria for STEA grants, as well as the Garden Helsinki controversy surrounding the National Coalition Party.

“The issues discussed over the summer have not served us in the way we would have wanted. We have not yet reached the stage where economic growth and the positive employment figures are visible in the polls. We nevertheless believe they will still give us a positive boost,” Keskinen said.

According to Yle’s latest poll, the National Coalition Party has continued to lose support particularly among women. Background data showed that support among women had fallen to 12.7 per cent, the lowest figure recorded in at least 15 years.

Keskinen said the party would address its loss of female support through the same approach as its broader decline in popularity.

“I believe that an economic turnaround, and showing that National Coalition Party policies have influenced Finland’s direction, will also appeal to female voters,” she said.

At the beginning of the parliamentary term in May 2023, support for the party among women was still well above 20 per cent.