NCJ Number
235836
Date Published
2010
Length
514 pages
Annotation
This English-summary report presents data and information on Finland's crime and criminal justice system for 2009, and trends are noted for the years 2000-2009.
Abstract
In Finland in the 2000s, the decline in theft, particularly car thefts and burglaries, during previous years continued and strengthened. There was a slight downward trend in homicides and robberies. The number of recorded assaults, on the other hand, has steadily increased in recent years; however, this is partly due to increased reporting, since victimization surveys show no corresponding increase. There were 114 homicides reported to police in 2009 in Finland. The annual number of police-recorded homicides has varied between 103 and 155 during the last 10 years. There were 32,894 assaults and 366 attempted homicides reported to the police. The annual number of recorded non-fatal assault offenses has increased approximately 90 percent since the end of the 1980s. In 2009, there were 1,640 recorded robberies, significantly less than the 10-year average of 1,957. Data on types of theft in Finland between 2000 and 2009 encompass motor vehicle theft, embezzlement, fraud, damage to property, tax offenses, and economic offenses. Data are also provided on drunken driving; other traffic offenses; narcotics offenses; juvenile crime; women as perpetrators and victims of crime; and foreigners, immigrants, and crime. Information and data on Finland's criminal justice system address trends in the system of sanctions. Finland's incarceration rate continued to be among the highest in Western Europe during the 1970s; however, although most European countries have experienced rising inmate populations, Finland has had a declining inmate population that reached the Nordic level of 60-70 prisoners per 100,000 population by the beginning of the 1990s. Community service is a sanction available throughout the country. Data also cover the sentencing of juveniles. 13 figures, 7 tables, and 105 references