NCJ Number
153957
Date Published
1994
Length
218 pages
Annotation
In 1993, crimes against Finland's Criminal Code represented 48 percent of all known crimes, with property crimes representing the largest category.
Abstract
Property crimes accounted for 82 percent of all crimes against the Criminal Code. Between 1983 and 1993, the annual number of homicides varied between 107 and 155. In 1993, the police registered 129 cases of murder or manslaughter. Data showed that assaults and robberies were down somewhat in 1993 from previous years. Between 1983 and 1993, however, recorded thefts increased continuously, with the 1993 rate being about 4 crimes per 100 inhabitants. Auto thefts more than doubled between 1987 and 1991, embezzlement offenses increased suddenly from 1990 to 1991 and remained at a level of about 4,000 in 1992 and 1993, and fraud offenses increased at a high rate between 1980 and 1990. Recorded cases of property damage continued to increase from the early 1980's to 1991, after which a decrease was observed. Recorded drunken driving incidents increased by 42 percent between 1982 and 1991 but decreased by 13 percent in 1992 and by an additional 14 percent in 1993. The number of drug offenses varied between 369 in 1981, 1,070 in 1985, and 931 in 1991. The mediation of criminal conflicts increased between 1983 and 1993. In 1993, mediation activities had been organized in more than 110 communities across the country. An estimated 2,500 offenses were mediated in 1992 and close to 5,000 were mediated in 1993. The number of persons sentenced in 1991 exceeded 404,000; 27,844 persons (7 percent) were sentenced to imprisonment, and 11,657 (41 percent) received an unconditional prison sentence. The median length of all prison sentences was 3.6 months in 1980, 3.4 months in 1984, and 2.6 months in 1991. In 1991, 16 percent of all sentences were appealed. The average daily number of prisoners decreased between 1970 and 1993. References, tables, and figures