Foreign nationals perpetrated fewer crimes in absolute numbers during the first half of 2020 than in the corresponding period of 2019, according to crime statistics released by the Helsinki Police Department. Most of the population of foreign origin is concentrated in the Helsinki-Uusimaa metropolitan area.
The latest figures published by the police draw a general picture where the total number of crimes recorded between January and June (47,572) decreased by -7.5% compared to a year ago (51,429). These figures include all crimes of any nature, perpetrated in Helsinki both by foreigners and by Finnish nationals.
Police remarked that 2020 is being an atypical year, marked by movement restrictions and the closure of public places such as bars and pubs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"In June, the situation of emergency assignments changed substantially, when people were allowed to move around but not visit restaurants. The weather was very warm in June, which attracted people to spend more time in town, parks and beaches, increasing the number of disturbance assignments," police said in its assessment.
When the suspect is known
The absolute number of offences is not always the most appropriate figure to map the criminal situation and the origin of perpetrators. Sometimes it may happen that the suspect of a crime is not known by the police or that the same person is suspected of several crimes, or that several people are suspected of the same crime. That requires a different analysis.
From January to June, the Helsinki Police Department recorded 32,977 crimes in which the suspect is known.
In 5,721 of those cases (17.3%) the person suspected of the crime had a nationality other than Finnish. A year earlier, foreigners committed 5,857 crimes (15.9%) out of a total of 36,765 in the same period. Therefore, amid the pandemic the total number of crimes committed by non-Finns decreased in number but increased in percentage.
Excluding traffic offences
Statistics can still be refined a bit more. A view at the offences against the criminal law where the suspect is known but excluding traffic offences shows slightly different results.
Foreign nationals committed 3,559 offences against the criminal law (without traffic offences) in Helsinki out of a total of 17,733 offences where the suspect is known. This is 20%.
The previous year, the number of offences reported by the police in this chapter was higher, 3,623 (or 21.6%) out of a total of 16,718. Therefore, in this case there is a decrease in both number and percentage.
Interestingly, in this chapter the number of cases in which the injured party is a foreign national (2,663) increased by 11.42%. Foreigners are victims of 14.9% of these crimes.
In the specific case of property crimes, the number of offences in which the injured party is a foreigner (1,518) increased by 13.54%. The number of property crimes with foreigners as suspects is lower (1,512) and decreased by -7.13% year-on-year.
Sexual crimes and narcotics
The number of sexual crimes perpetrated by foreigners is a matter that has been used by some groups to stir anti-immigration sentiments among the native population.
According to the latest statistics from the Helsinki police, between January and June there were 265 sexual crimes in the capital city and in 74 of them (-6.33%) the suspect is a foreign national. Last year on the same period 331 sexual crimes were recorded and in 79 of them the suspect was a foreigner.
In the specific case of rapes, 98 were recorded by the police, of which 25 had a foreigner as the suspect. The decrease was -46.81% compared to the first half of 2019, when there were 141 rapes, 47 of them with a foreign suspect. The crimes of sexual harassment with a foreign national as a suspect also fell by -14.29%.
Narcotics offences have increased among foreigners, according to police. Between January and June there were 3,623 of these offenses and 606 were allegedly perpetrated by foreign suspects. This is 14.34% more than in the same period of the previous year.
However, even in this chapter the most serious crimes were not committed by foreigners. In the case of aggravated narcotics offences, those where the suspect is a foreign national decreased by -18.75%.
