Slight decline in racially motivated crime

Police getting slightly more reports of race-related vandalism

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There has been a slight decrease in suspected racially motivated crimes last year than a year before. However, the number of racist acts vandalism has increased.
      Police received reports of 134 suspected racially motivated acts of causing deliberate harm, which is over 60 per cent more than in 2006. The acts most typically targeted property held by ethnic minorities, either at their homes, or restaurants that they run. The information comes from an annual survey by the Police College of Finland.
     
Suspected racist crimes are defined as acts leading to a criminal complaint, in which there is a racist motive, or clear racist features.
      According to the report, a total of 698 such cases were recorded last year. In 2006 there were 748.
      Young men were in the majority both as suspected perpetrators and as victims.
      As was the case in previous years, the most typical suspected racist crime involved assault and battery. Attempted assaults and various degrees of actual assault accounted for nearly 40 per cent of all cases.
     
A total of 47 cases of crimes of discrimination were reported to police. In nearly 80 per cent of the cases, the victim was a Roma, and in the rest, they were of an immigrant background.
      Typical cases involved discriminatory treatment in stores, restaurants, or public transport.
      In one case, an employee of a moving company refused to complete a job agreed to by telephone upon seeing that the customer was a member of an ethnic minority.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Racist crime rarely leads to conviction in Finland (26.4.2008)
  Assault is the most common racist crime (26.8.2005)

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