The Häme police want a separate investigation team for juvenile crime. The police have met several people under the age of 15 who have been involved in various crimes in the early part of the year.
Juvenile delinquency is a concern in Lahti.
Kiiskinen will not say more about the crimes because the cases are still under investigation.
– Young people are used as perpetrators, ordered by older young people. The young person may not have the courage to speak out.
Jari Kiiskinen emphasizes that in such cases the early intervention of the police and the cooperation of the authorities is very important in order to get the young people back on the right track in society.
In Lahti, preventive work is done by the Ankkuri team, which prevents young people from committing crimes at an early stage. The Ankkuri team has also participated in the investigation of crimes.
However, the police need their own youth crime investigation team to investigate youth crimes, says Kiiskinen.
– The Häme Police Department does not have such a group that can quickly react to crimes committed by young people.
Assaults and robberies by young people on the rise
Last year, drunkards under the age of 15 were involved in 91 assault crimes, 85 thefts and 176 property crimes.
15–17-year-olds, on the other hand, were involved in 80 assault crimes and 22 robberies in 2022. Compared to the previous year, the increase in both types of criminals is considerable in this age group. Some crimes are committed in small groups.
From the statistics of the Häme Police Department below, you can see how many young people were involved in various crimes in Päijät-Häme.
– So far, crimes committed by young people are investigated by separately appointed police officers, but we have not yet decided to establish our own youth crime investigation team.
Crimes committed by adults and juveniles in the same bench
According to Marko Viitanen, it is possible that a youth crime group will be established in the future. A separate investigation team for crimes committed by young people only would have to investigate the cases.
– Now that the crimes committed by adults and young people are in the same bundle, the young person’s story may not necessarily come up first.
– In Helsinki, a hundred police officers have been assigned to preventive activities, in Häme a few. Let’s talk about such differences. In larger police departments, there are investigative teams that only focus on youth crimes. This is always a question of resources.
