Statistics on offences and coercive measures: documentation of statistics

The statistics on offences and coercive measures focus on describing the regional distributions of crime and the use of coercive measures by the police, customs and border guard.
As regards offences, the statistics describe offences known to the police, customs and border guard. In addition to the numbers of offences reported, the statistics also describe the number of solved offences and the number of persons suspected of the solved offences. Age, sex, nationality and some socio-economic background factors are given of the suspects. The statistics also contain data on the victims of some offences and on domestic violence.
The statistics describe only offences for which a report, a fine order, a notice on a summary penal order has been made or for which a petty fine has been issued. A majority of offences remain hidden, in other words they are not known or reported as offences. The numbers of offences recorded are influenced, for example, by changes in supervision, legislation and citizens' willingness to report offences to the police.

 

The statistics are formed from cases recorded as an offence in the police information system (PATJA). The coercive measures data are also from the same PATJA system.

The statistical unit used is an offence. If several persons have taken part in the same offence together, the number of offences recorded is one. If several similar offences are committed at the same time, several of these offences can be recorded.
The main rule is that persons are presented in the statistics as many times as they are suspected of an offence (gross number of persons). However, victims of crimes are presented only one time per offence.

Number of offences.
Number of persons.
Number of coercive measures.

Quarterly data describing the offences recorded are drawn from the police PATJA system within five days from the end of a quarter and the data are completed during the month following the statistical reference period.
The basic data of the annual statistics on offences known are drawn from the police PATJA system at the beginning of April following the statistical reference year. The results are completed during May.
The data on coercive measures are drawn from the police PATJA system at the beginning of February following the statistical reference year. The results are completed during February to March.

The statistics cover offences investigated and coercive measures taken by the police, customs and border guard in Finland.
For offences, the data are reported according to the division of municipalities concerning the latest statistical year based on the municipality where the offence occurred. Coercive measures are reported by police department and the customs and border guard specified.

The statistics cover offences investigated and coercive measures taken by the police, customs and border guard in Finland.

 

Annual data on offences are available on the websites from 1980 onwards. Monthly data are available from 2009. Statistics on offences have been compiled since 1927. These older publications can be found digitised in the Doria service.
Data on coercive measures are available from 2004 onwards.

The statistics on offences are published quarterly. The quarterly data supplied to Statistics Finland become revised during the statistical reference year as the police investigation progresses.
The data on coercive measures describe the situation at the time of sampling and do not become revised. The section on domestic violence and intimate partner violence is published once a year and the background offence data are not revised.
 

The data are mainly recorded manually in the PATJA system and there are many recorders, so user-based random or systematic input errors are possible despite common recording instructions.

Quarterly data describing the offences recorded are drawn from the police PATJA system within five days from the end of a quarter and the data are completed during the month following the statistical reference period.
The basic data of the annual statistics on offences known are drawn from the police PATJA system at the beginning of April following the statistical reference year. The results are completed during May.
The data on coercive measures are drawn from the police PATJA system at the beginning of February following the statistical reference year. The results are completed during February to March.

The statistics cover offences investigated by the police, customs and border guard in Finland. Comparison of data between countries is difficult because the legislation of different countries differs from one another in respect of criminal offences. In addition, the statistical practices of different countries differ from one another. Statistics Finland removes from the statistics such reports of offences which are already reported and cases where it is found that no offence has taken place. In Sweden, for example, all cases reported to the system are included in the statistics, even if it turns out later that there has been no offence.
The International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) facilitates comparisons to some extent, but its use is currently in the development phase.

The regional classification valid at the time of publication is used in the statistics.
The regional classification used for coercive measures is the classification of police departments valid at the time of publication. The number of police departments decreased from 90 to 24 at the beginning of 2009. After the 2014 police department reform, there are 12 police departments.
Amendments to legislation make comparisons difficult between different years and types of offences.
The statistics describe the numbers of individual offences. Large series of offences may, when revealed, cause an increase of dozens, in some cases even thousands, of offences in the statistics. In the following year, the figures usually go back to the same level as before. The problem is highlighted when making regional comparisons of relatively rare offences on the development of offences.
Changes in the calculation bases of the number of offences also make it difficult to compare the number of offences in different years. As the basis for calculating the number of frauds changed in 1991, the change did not affect only the number of frauds but the comparability of the total number of offences with previous years also became more difficult.
The numbers of offences recorded are influenced, for example, by changes in police supervision, legislation and citizens' willingness to report offences to the police.
Since 1954, data have also been published on customs offences in connection with the statistics on offences known to the police, customs and border guard.


From the beginning of 2010, offences recorded by the customs and border guard were also included in the figures. These data are presented from the beginning of 2009. The change increased the number of all offences by around two per cent. Narcotics offences grew by six to eight per cent due to the change.
The figures concerning endangerment of traffic safety in late 2012 and early 2013 are not fully comparable, as it was found that excessive speeding detected by automatic traffic control towards the end of 2012 was recorded in early 2013.
Statistics on coercive measures have been compiled in a similar manner since 2002.
Changes in legislation also make it difficult to compare coercive measures between different years and types of coercive measures. For example, the legislation on the extraction of DNA profiles included in personal examinations was amended as of the beginning of 2004 (Act on the Processing of Personal Data by the Police 761/2003 and Coercive Measures Act 646/2003). The change resulted in the extraction of DNA profiles becoming a standard routine. The number of coercive measures may be influenced, for example, by changes in police criminal investigation practices or custody of intoxicated persons.
OFFENCE:
The new Road Traffic Act (267/81) entered into force on 1 April 1982. The act was applied in the statistics from the beginning of the year. Due to the legislative amendment, the figures did not correspond with the numbers of previous years in different types of traffic offences.
The Fixed Petty Fine Act (66/1983) and the Act on Fixed Petty Fines in Road Traffic (68/83) entered into force on 1 September 1983. According to the Act, a fixed petty fine may be issued for an infringement of the Road Traffic Act (267/81) or the provisions and regulations issued on the basis of it if the violation is considered to have caused only minor danger or harm.
Petty fines issued by the police from 1 September 1983 onwards are included in the statistics.
The statistical practice of embezzlement offences was changed starting from 1983 so that embezzlement offences involving several acts are recorded as one offence.
On 1 January 1991, the Act on the amendment of the Criminal Code (769/90) concerning offences against property and trading and financial offences entered into force. The change was the first stage of the overall reform of the Criminal Code, and it also included such basic changes that comparability with earlier years broke for certain categories of offences. New offence headings were added, and in part the contents of the headings that remained the same also changed. Problematic in this respect are offences related to the unauthorised use of movable goods, of which especially so-called thefts of motor vehicles, fraud and means of payment fraud offences and forgery offences. Comparability with previous years was maintained for other general offences against property. The data content of the statistics was changed to correspond with the revised legislation. The practice of compiling statistics on means of payment frauds changed in 1991. The change decreased the number of recorded offences.
Due to the revision of the legislation on unity of offences (697/91), the concept of an offence committed with a single act was not taken into account in the statistics starting from the beginning of 1992. With a few exceptions, offences committed with a single act had been before recorded only according to the main offence. The main offence refers to the offence for which the punishment laid down in law is the most severe. The change in the statistical method somewhat increased the number of offences recorded.
The new regulations concerning narcotics offences entered into force on 1 January 1994. They form Chapter 50 of the Criminal Code. Due to the legislative amendment, only the total numbers of narcotics offences are comparable with the corresponding figures of previous years. Although the statistical practice did not change as a result of the legislative amendment, the compilation of statistics on narcotics offences in 1994 was somewhat inconsistent in the police districts. Around ten per cent more narcotics offences than in reality are estimated to have been recorded. On 1 September 1994, new regulations concerning driving while intoxicated entered into force. The blood alcohol limit for aggravated driving while intoxicated fell from 1.5 to 1.2 per mil. Due to the legislative amendment, only the total numbers of cases of driving while intoxicated are comparable with previous years. A new limit for driving while intoxicated in water transport was fixed to one per mil instead of the previous 1.5 per mil.
On 1 September 1995, the Act on the amendment of the Criminal Code (578/95) entered into force. The effects of the revision of the crime nomenclature on the comparability of data with previous years were minor.
The following shows the correspondence of the new heading with the previously used heading:
Old heading -- > New heading

- Manslaughter -- > Manslaughter
- Manslaughter -- > Killing
- Attempted manslaughter or murder --> Attempted manslaughter, murder or killing
- Infanticide -- > Infanticide
- Negligent homicide -- > Negligent homicide, grossly negligent homicide
- Negligent bodily injury -- > Negligent bodily injury, grossly negligent bodily injury
- Arson -- > Criminal mischief, criminal traffic mischief, aggravated criminal mischief
- Attempted arson -- Attempted criminal mischief, attempted criminal traffic mischief, attempted aggravated criminal mischief
However, crime headings related to criminal mischief and arson are not fully comparable. In addition to arson, criminal mischief also includes cases previously belonging to other headings.
The new Alcohol Act (1143/94), which entered into force on 1 January 1995, caused changes to the classification of offences. The heading ‘consumption of an alcoholic substance in a public place’ was removed. Statistics compilation on narcotics offences in 1995 was somewhat inconsistent in the police districts.

In 1996, the following new headings were introduced: military offences, employment offences, environmental offences, violation of certain intangible rights. The age distribution of suspected women and the scene of homicides and assaults are presented as new data.
From 1997 onwards, information is given on the nationality of the suspected person.
The new regulations on offences against the administration of justice, the public authority and public order, as well as sex offences entered into force on 1 January 1999. They form Chapters 15, 16, 17 and 20 of the Criminal Code. On 1 October 1999 new regulations concerning traffic offences entered into force in Chapter 23 of the Criminal Code. The crime headings in the table are grouped according to the new legislation. The offences against the Criminal Code presented here include offences previously included in the Road Traffic Act.
On 1 April 2000 the statistical practice of certain types of offences was changed. Invasions of premises (Chapter 24 of the Criminal Code) are recorded so that a series of incidents involving several acts is recorded as one offence. Similarly, breaches of the sanctity of the grave and violations of a restraining order are recorded in the statistics. The latter are included in the offence group ‘offences against the administration of justice, the public authorities and public order ’.
On 1 September 2001, a new regulation on narcotics offences entered into force. The offence category unlawful use of narcotics was added to the crime classification.
New regulations on stealing of a motor vehicle for temporary use entered into force on 1 October 2002. Two new headings were added to the crime classification: stealing of a  motor vehicle for temporary use, petty stealing of a motor vehicle for temporary use and aggravated stealing of a motor vehicle for temporary use. Previously, these offences were recorded as unauthorised uses of a motor vehicle.
On 1 January 2003, motor vehicle infraction was introduced as a new offence.
The new Public Order Act entered into force on 1 October 2003. Breaches of the Public Order Act were added to the crime classification.
From 2003 onwards, information is given on the intoxicant used by the suspect in connection with driving while intoxicated.
Starting from 2004, information is presented on the intoxicant used by the suspect: combined use of other intoxicant and alcohol (mixed use). Previously, these were presented in the section under the influence of other intoxicant.
On 1 January 2004, breaches of the Public Order Act were introduced as a new crime heading. Ordinance infraction, violation of a police regulation, were removed from the nomenclature.
Chapter 41 of the Criminal Code on weapons offences entered into force on 1 June 2007. These offences are included in the revised offence heading offences against Chapters 41, 42 and 43 of the Criminal Code. The change does not affect the total number of offences.
Chapter 50a of the Criminal Code on alcohol offences and the amendment to the Alcohol Act entered into force on 1 November 2009, new offence headings were alcohol offence, aggravated alcohol offence, petty alcohol offence and alcohol violation. Due to the legislative amendment, only the total number of alcohol offences and alcohol violations is comparable with previous years.
In 2010, the statistical practice of theft offences through unlawful breaking in to the dwelling was changed. Since 2009, theft offences against free-time residences and other dwellings are presented as separate information.

In 2010, information describing the scene of crime was added for the following offences: robbery offences, damages to property, attempted manslaughter, murder or killing, and rapes. The data are presented starting from the beginning of 2009.
In August 2013, acts on the preparation of offence against life or health of another, on the preparation of aggravated robbery and on the preparation of the taking of a hostage entered into force.
Stalking was criminalised starting from 1 January 2014.
On 1 September 2014, Chapter 20 (sex offences) of the Criminal Code was revised. The punishment scale of offences was increased and Chapter 20, Section 3 (coerced sexual intercourse) was repealed. Sexual harassment, Chapter 20, Section 5a, was added to the Act.
On 4 September 2015, identity theft was added to the Criminal Code (Criminal Code, Chapter 38, Section 9a).
Aggravated rape of a child was added to the Criminal Code on 15  April 2019 (Criminal Code, Chapter 20, Section 7b)
A revised grouping of offences was introduced at the beginning of 2019.
A Offences against property
B Crimes against life and health
C Sex offences
D Offences against the administration of justice, the public authorities and public order
L Traffic offences
M Other offences against the Criminal Code
N Offences against other acts and decrees
The structure of the crime nomenclature was also changed:
Other offences against the Criminal Code category (M) consists of offences against the Criminal Code not belonging to groups A to L.
Endangerment of traffic safety, flights from the scene of a traffic accident, traffic infractions, violations of social welfare legislation on road traffic and motor vehicle infractions, as defined outside the Criminal Code, belong to category N. This category also includes other offences defined outside the Criminal Code.
The aim of the revision is to improve the comparability of offences between different years and enhance their international comparability.

COERCIVE MEASURES:
Coercive measures concerning search of data contained in a device and search of premises entered into force at the beginning of 2014. The introduction of these coercive measures had a decreasing effect on the numbers of used house searches and confiscations.
At the beginning of 2016, a coercive measure came into force for the detention of foreigners.
From 2009, only the total numbers of confiscations related to bodily searches and house searches are given. A more detailed classification of the coercive measures in question is not available. For definitional reasons, the number of detentions based on the Police Act is not fully the same as the number of persons taken into custody while intoxicated presented in the statistics on offences reported.

The numbers of examinations of state of intoxication made with a blood test had been deficiently recorded into the system during 2009 to 2010. This deviation of several thousand cases must be taken into account when comparing the total numbers of coercive measures. The figure for 2010 was only 975, whereas it should have been closer to the figure for 2011, which was 8,323.
Data on coercive measures decided by courts are available from the court statistics until the statistics for 2013.

The police, customs and border guard publish their own statistical releases, the figures of which may differ slightly from those of Statistics Finland. Several reasons for this:
1.    Differences in data selection times: Statistics Finland’s data for earlier years are not updated in connection with the publication of the new statistical reference year. The other actors retrieve data from the continuously updated data warehouse.
2.    Differences in processing rules: for example, whether unfounded notices of offences are removed from total numbers.

The source register for the statistics is the police information system PATJA.
Data on municipal parking supervision are collected with a web questionnaire.

TietoEvry is responsible for delivering the data on offences and coercive measures to Statistics Finland. TietoEvry draws the data from PATJA and transfers them as sequential files to Statistics Finland's server.
Data on municipal parking supervision are collected with a Webropol inquiry.

Data on offences are drawn quarterly and as a separate annual selection with a larger data content.
Data on coercive measures are drawn yearly.
Data on municipal parking supervision are collected once a year.

The data are not weighted or adjusted. The background information on persons, such as age, sex and so on is compared with Statistics Finland's registers primarily based on these register data. If the person does not have a personal identity code, the information in the data is used.
The domestic violence and intimate partner violence data were formed based on register data of offences recorded by the police. Information about domicile, family status and children, parents, spouses and registered partners from Statistics Finland's data has been combined to the victim and suspect in the police Patja system of crime reporting data. It has been established whether the victim and suspect are cohabiting based on family status and domicile data. The register data are from the statistical reference year. For married couples, comparisons are made between the date when the offence took place and the date when the marriage was entered into and the date of divorce.  The data also take into consideration cases where the victim and suspect have been cohabiting in the year preceding the statistical reference year. An examination of whether the victim and suspect have a common child has been added to the statistical data. If the victim and suspect are a cohabiting or married couple or a former married or cohabiting couple they are primarily included in these categories and only then do we examine whether the victim and suspect have a common child. Starting from 2020, cohabiting partners are sought for five previous years. Earlier, only the previous year was examined. The time series has been revised retrospectively and for this reason the figures have changed slightly.
Starting from 2015, we have also considered whether the victim and suspect have lived in the same dwelling in any month during the statistical reference year. We have formed cohabiting couples of those living in the same dwelling if both are aged over 18, are of opposite sexes and their age difference is under 16 years. All offences that were reported in the statistical reference year are included, so the offence may have taken place in an earlier year. In addition to sexual offences in Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code and offences against life and health in Chapter 21, offences related to domestic violence and intimate partner violence include deprivation of personal liberty (Criminal Code, Chapter 25, Sections 1 to 2), menace (Chapter 25, Section 7), stalking (Chapter 25, Section 7a), coercion (Chapter 25, Section 8) and trafficking in human beings (Chapter 25, Section 3). In addition, robberies (Chapter 31, Section 1) and extortions (Chapter 31, Section 3) are included.
 

The quality of the data is monitored by comparing them with the data of the previous quarter/year and by viewing changes. Sometimes large series of offences that hamper annual comparisons become known to the authorities. Likewise, any legislative amendments make comparisons difficult. If major changes occur in the data but no significant changes have taken place in legislation, the producers of the data are asked about possible changes.
 

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Further information: Statistical legislation 

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable. 

Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi) 

Statistics Finland has specified its data protection practices related to statistics on offences and coercive measures. Statistics Finland discontinues the publication of data on offences referred to in Chapters 12 and 13 of the Criminal Code in the statistics on offences and coercive measures starting from the data for the statistical reference year 2023. Data are not removed from releases published prior to 2023. Statistics Finland releases data on the offences referred to in Chapters 12 and 13 of the Criminal Code concerning solved offences in future as well. 
The police harmonise their data with that of Statistics Finland in their own statistical releases.
The decision is based on Section 16 of the Statistics Act, which states that Statistics Finland's right to collect data by virtue of the data supply obligation provided for in Sections 14 and 15 does not apply to confidential data relating to international relations, public safety, defence and national security or to confidential official documents as referred to in Section 6, Paragraph 24, Sub-paragraphs 2, 3 and 9 of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. 

Access to statistical data is restricted only to persons who necessarily need them. The aim is to keep the classification of tables in the statistics at a less detailed level in order to create as few small cell frequencies as possible, but crime is such a topic that in general special interest focuses on these small cell frequencies. As a rule, efforts are made to present the most sensitive data only on the level of the whole country.
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Statistics Finland delivers a statistical report to the police, customs and border guard quarterly.

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The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before. 

Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.

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Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi) 

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Further information: Publication principles for statistics 

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