Helsingin Sanomat has reported that an 11-year-old girl is the leader of a gang of girls in Eastern Helsinki suspected in 30 criminal cases.
The paper and other outlets reported about the gang of young females last week. Police suspect around 10 individuals in the crimes. The suspects were born between 2012 and 2015.
According to HS, the group’s 11-year-old leader is widely known among kids in the eastern part of the city. The paper noted that up to 40 children may be tangentially involved. Yle has reported that boys had also been involved in some of the incidents.
Police mostly suspect the youths of assault, but they are also suspected of making illegal threats and vandalism, for example.
According to the paper, the gang had targeted adults and children whom they did not know, and also kids they did know. According to police, the group had been active at least in the Vuosaari and Pasila districts.
Helsinki police inspector Marja Väätti said that the girls also filmed some of their crimes, according to the paper, which said the videos had been shared on Snapchat.
All of the suspects are under the age of 15, meaning they are not criminally liable. However, they may be liable for damages, HS noted.
The police have yet to determine a motive for their acts.
According to Väätti, the children involved come from different backgrounds, not all of them live in Helsinki, and some come from hometowns in other parts of Uusimaa.
Oil spill plans
There are plans to drill heavy steel bolts into the bedrock of the Gulf of Finland, onto which floating containment barriers can be secured in the event of a catastrophic oil spill, according to Iltalehti.
The paper noted that an unmitigated oil spill risks irreversible damage to the delicate environment of the archipelago in the Baltic Sea.
The project, which carries an estimated cost of 300,000 euros, has the potential to save Finland millions of euros.
The paper cited Jukka-Pekka Lumilahti from the Coast Guard saying that cleaning up a major oil spill would cost an estimated one million euros per day. He noted that oil cleanup efforts are an extremely slow process that can take weeks or even months.
The effort was revealed at a press conference about a joint marine defence project involving the John Nurminen Foundation and authorities.
The project is still in its planning stages, but the goal is to carry out the project by the end of the summer, according to Iltalehti.
Others behind the joint project include Metsähallitus, the Finnish Border Guard and the Kymenlaakso Rescue Department.
What the people want
Helsingin Sanomat looked at a City of Helsinki programme that seeks guidance from capital city residents about possible infrastructure and other improvements.
The programme, known as OmaStadi, is a ‘participatory budgeting process’, according to the City. This year, the city has raised the budget for resident-led projects to 10 million euros.
The programme is in its fourth iteration, and voting has just ended, according to the paper.
Among the wishes that came in included new swimming areas, swingsets and sheltered grilling areas.
But the most recent vote also resulted in the allocation of 75,000 euros toward remedial education for middle-schoolers in northern parts of the city. That effort, which received more than 300 votes, aims to support all students in grades 7-9, not just those in need of special help.
Residents in the southeastern part of the city wanted to see more outreach youth work, while in the west there were desires for anti-bullying and anti-racism education for children and youths. In the south of the city, residents in Lauttasaari wanted to renovate a school playground.
The newspaper asked the City’s acting Deputy Mayor for Education, Shawn Huff (Green), whether it is appropriate that funds that are most often spent on amenities and events is being allocated to remedial education programmes.
“Good question. This suggestion came from city residents, and I think it speaks to their situation,” he said, according to HS.
However, according to Huff, the OmaStadi funding allocated for the remedial education programme will likely not be used for remedial teaching. Rather, that will come from the general budget, he explained.
“The OmaStadi money will probably instead be directed to activities that supplement the school day, such as clubs or social skills training,” he said.
