Prosecutors review police officer who pointed gun at man

A special prosecutor will decide within weeks whether to charge a police officer who pointed a gun at a man in Tampere, Yle reports. The officer’s conduct has moved to prosecutorial review.

The man opened the door of an unmarked police car parked by the road in Villilä on August 12. The car was running, but no one was visible. Video recorded by the man shows an armed officer emerging from the back of the car and ordering him to leave.

The man who opened the door is not suspected of a crime in the case. The investigation into the officer’s conduct was completed earlier this autumn. The allegations under investigation are breach of official duty and unlawful threat; they have not changed during the preliminary investigation.

Tarmo Tanner, a special prosecutor in the Office of the Prosecutor General’s police crimes unit, said no requests for further investigation had been made. Under the Police Act, threatening someone with a firearm is considered use of a firearm, as is firing it.