End of school year celebrations kept volunteer help workers busy over the weekend

In Helsinki six young individuals were taken to local detox centre to sleep it off

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The police confiscated a sizeable amount of alcoholic beverages from underage drinkers in Helsinki’s Sinebrychoff Park and on the Hietaniemi beach last weekend.
      The seized drinks, which had been used by the youngsters to celebrate the schools-out weekend, included 143 litres of beer, cider, or gin long drink, five litres of wine, and six litres of strong spirits.
      The police also put on record for the first time how the patrols managed to prevent assaults.
      According to superintendent Pekka Kallio, during the course of the evening the police managed to avert 48 attempted muggings from happening in the downtown area.
     
The spring semester closing weekend also kept the city’s volunteer first-aid workers busy. The City of Helsinki’s "Helping the Youth" operation reported on Sunday that between Saturday evening and 3 a.m. on Sunday morning the help patrols had assisted 173 youngsters.
      First aid was needed in 39 cases, and seven of the teenagers were sent straight to hospital. During the course of the night, six underage individuals were taken to the city’s detoxification centre to sleep it off.
     
The evening and night did not go off without some violence.
      There were scuffles and assaults reported in the capital, and potentially the most serious incident requiring police intervention took place in the vicinity of the Herttoniemi Metro station, where a brawl broke out between Finnish skinheads and members of the Roma minority.
      There were no serious injuries, but police took away around a dozen of the combatants to cool off.
     
In the neighbouring city of Espoo, for the most part the help and service operations took place in rather more peaceful circumstances.
      In a couple of cases the police were summoned to break up fights. The most popular venues for the youth to say their farewells to the old school-year included the Klobben Beach, Kaskiniitty, and the Lähderanta cliffs. Once the sun had gone down, the evening quickly turned cooler and this had a moderating effect on the celebrations.
      During the course of the night the youth workers chatted with around 1,600 youngsters, most of whom were between the ages of 14 and 18.
      The performed first-aid tasks included patching up minor wounds and checking the condition of four individuals. Four people were taken either home or to the Jorvi Hospital.
      Some parents also showed up at the partying places to pick up and take home their offspring.
     
In the city of Vantaa, the revelling concentrated traditionally in the Kalliopuisto Park, the hills in Havukoski, and Korso’s Ankkalampi (“Duck Pond”).
      In Western Vantaa the youngsters assembled primarily at the Jokiluoma Park and the Paasipuisto Park in the district of Kivistö. Many of the Vantaa youth also headed for Helsinki’s Hietaniemi.
      According to Vantaa help workers, fewer youth than in previous years were seen celebrating the ending of the spring semester and the beginning of the long summer vacation. During the evening the members of the so-called “Duck Patrol” provided a lift home to four young individuals. One was taken to the Peijas Hospital.
      In Vantaa the police put on record around thirty confiscations of alcoholic beverages from underage drinkers.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Law does not stop minors from drinking on streets or at home (26.5.2008)
  Police promise crackdown on underage drinking over schools-out weekend (3.6.2010)

Helsingin Sanomat