Law enforcement in Finland

Law enforcement in Finland falls under the jurisdiction of the Finnish Police, and in special tasks, the Finnish Border Guard and Finnish Customs. The military has very limited police powers, mainly for internal investigation of petty infractions.

Moreover, the Finnish Police includes three national agencies. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) (Keskusrikospoliisi, KRP) is a national unit tasked with "crime prevention and provision of expert services." The Finnish Security Police "specializes in the prevention of security threats of the State." The third the National Traffic Police.

National police agencies
National Bureau of Investigation, which is responsible for major criminal investigations. (Finnish: Keskusrikospoliisi, KRP)

Security Police, responsible for national security and the investigation of related crimes. (Finnish: Suojelupoliisi, a.k.a. SuPo literally: Protection Police)

National Traffic Police, a highway patrol organization responsible for traffic safety, doubling as a national police reserve. These units can also be called as reinforcements for general law enforcement tasks. (Finnish: Liikkuva poliisi literally: Mobile police)

The SWAT team Karhuryhmä is not a national police agency, rather, it is a part of the Helsinki local police department. It is deployed only on request by a local police agency and when deployed, it is subordinated to local police command.

Local policing
Police Departments The function of each district police department is to maintain general law and order, prevent crime, investigate crime and other events that threaten public order and safety, to carry out traffic control and surveillance and promote traffic safety, and perform all other duties prescribed by law or otherwise assigned to the police in their area.

There are 90 district police departments in Finland, with 280 service points. Alarm services are operated by emergency response centres maintained by the state.

Other agencies

 * Customs


 * Border Guard

also perform some law enforcement functions, mainly concerned with goods (Customs) and persons (Border Guard) crossing Finland's borders.

Public Order Act
On October 1, 2003, the Public Order Act went into effect, standardizing public ordinances throughout the country.