NCJ Number
131200
Date Published
1990
Length
112 pages
Annotation
Interviews with police officers, chiefs of police, other criminal justice officials, and pretrial detainees in two small rural police districts in Finland in 1988 formed the basis of an analysis of police practices in pretrial investigations before the implementation of the 1989 Pretrial Investigation Act.
Abstract
The districts had total populations of about 15,000 and 17,500. The analysis showed that both districts used approaches similar to the usual practice in Finland and that the police believed the current approaches and resources to be appropriate and adequate. However, several believed that increases and changes in crime and the new legislation would require increased attention to more technical, surveillance-oriented investigation. As a result, correspondingly less reliance would be placed on the current main methods, the questioning of suspects and investigations based on this questioning. Police currently do not actively seek to pressure suspects or bargain for confessions in exchange for release, but do bargain sometimes. In addition, the written records vary in their level of detail. Finally, police chiefs and assistant chiefs have dual roles as police and prosecutors in small rural districts, and this duality may hinder objective decisions regarding prosecutions. Tables, footnotes, and 33 references