Russians living in Finland commit crimes as often as Finns themselves

Tabloid articles of Eastern crime-wave shown up in new light

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Finnish police suspect the Russians living in this country of criminal offences only slightly more often than the Estonians or the Finns themselves. Proportioned to the size of population, the difference has been typically in the region of a couple of percentage points, according to a recent research paper.
      The finding does not support the often-reported presumption that a large number of Russians in Finland are engaged in criminal activities.
     
Most of the crimes committed by Russians are traffic violations. The second most common offence is violence, in the form of assaults and the like. Drug trafficking and pimping, in turn, are rather rare, despite what one might think based on the headlines in tabloid newspapers.
      National Police School student Junior Constable Tiina Ranta's diploma dissertation dealt with crime suspicions and attitudes towards Finland's Russian population since 1996. Ranta based her study on Statistics Finland reports, as well as on a previous analysis by special researcher Hannu Niemi.
      Ranta compiled last year's figures herself from the police register. The starting-point of her work was the newspaper reports of criminal gangs, prostitutes, and pimps systematically landing in Finland from across the eastern border.
     
"Based on the volume of articles, the crime-rate among Finland's Russians should be staggeringly high", Ranta explains. The statistics simply do not support this presumption.
      In 2004, there were 24,626 Russians, 13,978 Estonians, and 8,209 Swedes living in Finland.
      In proportion to the size of population, the crime percentage among the Russians varied between 11-13 percent depending on the year, whereas among the Finns, the Swedes, and the Estonians the rate was typically between 10-11 percent.
      The high number of Moroccans and Turks that came under suspicion of criminal behaviour took Ranta by surprise. Nearly a third of them were suspected of a violation of some sort. Ranta included every recorded incident into her study, even if one and the same person had committed several violations. This naturally can have an effect on the national average.
     
Last year's figures were also examined province by province.
      "Traffic violations are far and away the most common form of offence. For example, in the Province of Lapland, the percentage of those driving without a valid licence was 14%, while 10 % were found guilty of reckless endangerment behind the wheel, and 11 % drove under the influence."
      Based on hotel overnight stay statistics, almost 1.5 million Russians visited Finland. Especially in the eastern parts of the country, tourism contributes to the traffic violation statistics. Only 42 % of the Russians brought up for traffic violations live officially in Finland.
      The share of drug violations of all the crime in the Province of Southern Finland is around 2 % - and in Helsinki around 3 %. Pimping figures, in turn, are lost in the mass of other crimes.
      Ranta's diploma work, Attitudes and Criminal Suspicions Towards Russian Citizens, was reviewed at the National Police School of Finland in Tampere.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Police say Russian prostitution decreasing sharply in Finnish Lapland (30.7.2003)
  Police wants to tap pimp's phones; calls to prostitutes may soon be heard at police station (4.4.2003)
  Russian and Estonian criminal gangs divide Finnish prostitution market amongst themselves (11.6.2002)

Links:
  The National Police School of Finland

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