If your bike's gone missing, who you gonna call? Not the local police, according to the metropole-based Helsingin Sanomat, which leads off its domestic reporting Monday with an assessment of criminal investigation successes by Finnish police. The results are less than encouraging, the daily says, noting that during the first six months of the year the men in blue only managed to crack about one in ten property crimes.
According to the paper, apart from cases where perps were intercepted in flagrante, police managed to solve just 12 percent of property crimes - with pickpockets, bicycle thieves and vandals most often managing to evade the long arm of the law.
HS spoke with top brass at the Police Administration, who said that such investigations haven’t topped the police agenda this year. Forces are instead training their sights on financial crimes, organised criminal groups and maintaining traffic surveillance. Additionally police are struggling to adjust to a restructuring programme that has seen their precincts pruned from 24 to 11, as well as the disbanding of the mobile police unit.
Sulphur directive muddying waters?
Printed in Turku, the widely-read daily Turun Sanomat heads offshore with a headline story on the European Union’s controversial sulphur directive due to enter into force at the beginning of 2015. The paper reports that the shipping industry is still awaiting guidance on enforcement of the directive, which seeks to limit pollution by restricting the sulphur content in fuel used in the shipping industry.
The directive itself caused a furore among shipping companies because of concerns over increased costs caused either by switching to low-sulphur content fuel or fitting scrubbers to reduce sulphur emissions. The financial impact on Finnish marine transport has been estimated to rise by hundreds of millions of euros annually.
Silja Ruokola of the Transport and Communications Ministry told TS that there are many open questions, including key issues such as how international corporation would work.
Shipping companies meanwhile, including the International Chamber of Shipping, say they’d like clear and unified rules on enforcement and possible sanctions arising from infringements.
Specialised driving permits for emergency workers
Monday’s print edition of the Tampere-based daily Aamulehti meanwhile carries a call to introduce compulsory and standardised driver’s training for emergency first responders. The paper notes that currently specialised driver’s ed is available on a voluntary basis at different training institutions, while course contents and quality vary, and there is no common curriculum.
The paper quotes Finland’s Association for Emergency Care as endorsing the call for an emergency driver’s qualification that would include training as well as a test. The Association noted that first responders often only have experience driving passenger cars and pointed out that it requires special training to maneuver an ambulance in an emergency situation, sometimes in unfavourable weather conditions.
Heat in Finland – and in Gaza
In coolly temperate Finland, weather is always in the news – especially extended spells of warm weather. Monday’s tabloid dailies exploit this rich vein with an optimistic prognosis for "tropical nights" à la Ilta Sanomat, while Iltalehti warns of highs reaching up to 32 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country Monday.
Iltalehti also covers the heat – this time in Gaza, where the Israeli government is leading a military offensive to destroy tunnels it claims are feeding the militant group Hamas with arms and rockets used against Israel.
The paper focuses on Finland’s arms trade with Israel, claiming that the northern nation has purchased weapons systems including landing gear for Hornet jets, unmanned mini drones, camouflage systems and communications components. Israeli cannon towers have also been deployed in tanks made by the Finnish defence contractor Patria, the paper writes.
On the flip side of the defence spending coin, Israel has purchased telescope masts from Finland for use on its military vehicles. According to Iltalehti, Defence Ministry spokesperson Sanna Laaksonen said that nothing prevents Finland from engaging in arms trades with Israel, since neither Israel nor Israeli businesses are subject to any international trade embargoes or restrictions.