Koskimäki calls for reforms in crime report handling amid rising backlog in Finland

Ilkka Koskimäki, the Chief of Police, has expressed a desire for changes in how crime reports are handled, suggesting that not all cases require a preliminary investigation. Currently, police investigations are heavily congested, with around 180,000 cases pending, most of which are crime reports, alongside other matters like missing person searches and inquiries into deaths and accidents.

Koskimäki assures that stepping back from mandatory investigations does not imply that certain crimes would go unexamined. Instead, it would allow police to concentrate on genuinely harmful offenses. Even with the proposed changes, each report would still be assessed to determine if an investigation is warranted. He believes that the current system often leads to unnecessary work on cases unlikely to progress to prosecution, which diminishes public trust.

He argues that the alternative approach could actually enhance trust in law enforcement, as it would eliminate the need for redundant procedures, like compulsory interviews and obtaining surveillance footage, for cases that clearly lack evidential merit.

The current legislation allows police to propose to limit the scope of investigations in cases where the amount of work required would not likely result in prosecution. However, these limitations can only be applied to about 20,000 cases annually, a number Koskimäki finds insufficient to manage the overwhelming workload.

Further highlighting the need for reform, he indicated that the government’s existing policy includes references to easing police investigation obligations. Koskimäki shared these insights during an appearance on public broadcasting, addressing potential reputational risks associated with modifying these investigative duties.