National Police Commissioner Naulapää sees no need for internal affairs unit

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National Police Commissioner Reijo Naulapää sees no need for Finland to create a special internal affairs unit, which would investigate police crimes only.
      The matter was brought up in a report from Deputy Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka in November, which criticised the shortcomings of the supervision of police activities. According to Naulapää, the report gave too pessimistic a picture of the situation in the police administration.
      Naulapää considers the report as basically sound, although it gave an impression that supervision would have been neglected within the police. On the contrary, he argues, the Supreme Police Command has made several efforts to improve the internal supervision.
     
Naulapää lists a large number of measures that have been taken in order to ascertain legality control, including training and guidance, checking of protocols, and conducting of inspections. Moreover, the new system called Salpa will give the principal an opportunity to check that all secret coercive means used during the investigations of a particular suspect have followed legal procedures.
     
In particular, Naulapää wants to fight back against the accusations that have been made against the Supreme Command of the Police. He claims that the Supreme Command cannot possibly supervise everything that takes place in the field. He says that the main responsibility of supervision lies at the provincial level.
      On the other hand, Naulapää welcomes publicity surrounding the report. He admits that police have not always understood that it is vital to have accurate records of all police activities that focus on people’s fundamental rights. It will make it easier to assess them afterwards.
     
Basic police work has taken up so much of the attention of individual officers that sometimes paperwork may have been neglected. However, Naulapää does not accept this excuse, as incorrect records may give an impression of carelessness even in the exercise of powers. Naulapää adds that any indications of a misuse of police powers are always investigated.
     
As for powers, Naulapää notes that police actions have lately moved over to the area of secret missions including false purchases, stings, undercover operations, and telephone surveillance. He stresses, however, that the police have to employ tougher methods as professional criminals have done exactly that.
     
Naulapää regards the creation of a possible internal affairs unit as needless and as too expensive. He prefers the present procedure, in which the police of a neighbouring jurisdictional district investigate the neighbour’s activities and vice versa. In cases of more serious offences, the investigations are conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation.
      ”The central policy of the Supreme Command is that the rule of law must never be compromised,” Naulapää concludes.
      National Police Commissioner Reijo Naulapää will retire in January 2005, and he will be succeeded by Markku Salminen, who is currently the Director General of the Prison Service in Finland.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Report criticises shortcomings of supervision of police activities (18.11.2004)

Links:
  The Office of the Chancellor of Justice
  National Police Commissioner
  The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)

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