Finnish street gangs appear to have disappeared underground, according to police.
Until recently, these gangs maintained a fairly high visibility through confrontations with rivals and an openly defiant presence on social media. Nowadays, they now tend to operate more covertly.
Police say there has been a significant change in the last year or so in the way gangs operate and project their image.
"Their activities are no longer as visible and their symbols or 'brand' are not as prominent as before," says Detective Inspector Marko Forss, who works in the street gang crime investigation unit of the Helsinki Police Department.
According to the police, there are indications that criminal activity by street gangs has become more professionalised, with operations evolving in the direction of traditional organised crime.
One example is that the gangs now engage in criminal activities within networks.
"This can make it challenging to distinguish between the activities of individuals formerly associated with street gangs and those associated with organised crime groups," Forss points out.
Detective Inspector Kimmo Sainio, also of the Helsinki Police Department, believes the observed changes are due to factors such as the prison sentences handed down to key gang members and other actions taken by authorities.
"This may have forced them to act differently. It means they have realised that such highly visible activity on social media does not help their own cause. Public exposure generates interest and so partly facilitates police action," he says.
More influence from Sweden
According to the police, there has been a growing criminal influence from Sweden.
Within the past year, police have observed individuals involved in organised crime in Sweden coming to Finland. Entering the country either permanently or on a short-term basis, they have been linked to the criminal activities of Finnish street gangs.
"Preliminary investigations have led to suspicions, or to evidence, that they are involved in the importation and distribution of drugs. The illicit drug market, which has opened up somewhat in Finland, is a key part of the whole situation," says Sainio.
He adds that the police do not know exactly how many individuals like this there are in Finland and what they are involved in.
"But there have been more and more indications in that direction over the past year," he notes.
According to the police, street gangs operating in Finland have foreign connections not only to Sweden, but above all to the United Kingdom.
In a sensitive phase
There are still around a dozen street gangs in Finland, concentrated in the capital region.
According to the latest police estimate, street gang networks include around 150 key players. They are largely the same people as in past years.
Forss says that figures on the number of street gang members do not, however, give a fully accurate picture of the current situation of street gang networks.
Gangs are not clearly delineated or easily identifiable, for example by signs or symbols.
There has been no significant change in the level of street gang crime over the year, something that Sainio attributes to success by the police in tackling gang violence, uncovering large-scale drug-dealing networks and seizing firearms.
"The main perpetrators are now serving long sentences and this has partly calmed the situation," says Sainio.
However, the potential for renewed violence may be smouldering under the surface.
"This is in a very sensitive phase. Any single act could make a big difference," Sainio points out.