Police reported this week that youths are increasingly committing drug-related and violent crimes, newspaper Ilta-Sanomat noted on Tuesday morning.
It said that the “crime as a service” phenomenon — in which criminals recruit young people to gangs and order them to commit serious crimes — has reached Finland.
The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Finland is 15, meaning offenders under that age cannot be criminally liable, prosecuted or sentenced. Young criminals can, however, face financial responsibility for damage they cause and risk ending up in the child welfare system.
To see what legislators have to say about it, Ilta-Sanomat asked parliamentary group leaders how they would address the situation.
According to the governing NCP’s group leader, MP Jukka Kopra, toughening laws is not the only solution, but changing the age limit for criminal responsibility should be discussed.
He pointed to Sweden, which recently lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 13 in serious cases, following a significant rise in youth-related crime.
“It is also not very credible that a 14-year-old would be completely unaware and uninformed about the consequences of their actions. The age limit is clearly being exploited,” Kopra said.
The opposition Centre Party’s group leader, Antti Kurvinen, said both carrots and sticks are needed.
“If it’s a question of 14-year-olds, or 11-12-year-olds, we need to ask what’s happening in families and society,” he told the paper.
IS noted that out of all the group leaders, Kurvinen has had the closest contact with juvenile delinquency, as the problem has reared its head in the MP’s home municipality of Kauhava.
“Soft means are the priority. If you can go to school, have hobbies and maybe summer jobs, you’ve come a long way. We also must not repeat Sweden’s mistakes, which means we must also use hard means,” Kurvinen said.
“For example, even here in Kauhava, we have seen situations where young people commit crimes and young people are being encouraged to commit crimes because they receive lesser sentences. It’s a phenomenon that is visible even here in the deep Ostrobothnian countryside, not to mention the capital region,” Kurvinen explained.
“For example, a 14-year-old or 17-year-old offender should not feel that nothing will happen. This is my own opinion: we should consider whether we could have short prison sentences,” he said.
Meanwhile, Finns Party group leader Jani Mäkelä said he was unsure about lowering the age of criminal responsibility across the board, but was prepared to ‘relativise’ the age limit.
According to the MP, that would create a degree of uncertainty about whether youths risked criminal consequences in their actions. In any case, Mäkelä said he hopes that the police receive more power to intervene in international criminal gangs that recruit minors.
The parliamentary group leader of the opposition Social Democrats, Tytti Tuppurainen, said that authorities need to have the right tools to “break the cycle of crime and preferably prevent crimes”.
However, her party has no plan to change the age of criminal responsibility. Instead, the SDP would like to see mandatory follow-up support for young offenders who have received suspended sentences.
According to Tuppurainen, the support measures already in place are voluntary. The SDP would also be giving additional powers to the authorities to protect young people, she said.
“For example, in the Vuosaari case, the girls were 11 years old. Then the issue is child protection and the ability of child protection authorities to intervene in the children’s symptoms.”
Finding electricity deals
Electricity prices have been quite cheap this week, due to high winds keeping Finland’s wind turbines churning, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
It noted that on Monday, the average tax-included spot price for electricity was 2.11 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).
While that’s good for now, there are always risks of spot prices rising, and the uncertainty leads many households to avoid surprises by choosing a fixed-rate contract.
Citing the Energy Authority, Helsingin Sanomat noted, the cheapest one-year fixed-rate contract on offer costs 7.78 cents/kWh, which is more than it was in February.
Although the fixed price is higher, in terms of price stability it offers a certain peace of mind, the paper said.
It found the best fixed-rate deals from Hehku Energia, Cheap Energy and Oomi.
A warning about pickpockets
Police in Southwestern Finland have warned that as summer and warmer weather approach, there has been an increase in pickpocket crime in the region, according to Iltalehti.
In a press release, police said pickpocketing crimes are often carried out by foreigners who do not remain in the country for long, meaning that it can be difficult to track down the perpetrators and the stolen goods.
There has been an increase in criminal reports filed concerning pickpocket crimes in various parts of Southwest Finland, according to police. The scenarios typically see victims having their wallet stolen from a bag, pocket or shopping trolley. The crimes can take place in shops as well as on the street, the paper reported.
To avoid being targeted, police advised people to carry their wallets and phones in their front pockets or in a zippered bag.
Police also said people should avoid using backpacks, only carry as much cash as necessary, and to set their daily bank card withdrawal limits ‘as low as possible’.
