Crime rises 9.8% in 1st 3 quarters

A total of 376,800 offences against the Criminal Code were recorded by the police, customs, and border guard in January to September 2020, which is 36,900 cases (9.8 per cent) more than that in the corresponding period in 2019, according to the Statistics Finland.

A total of 177,300 offences against property were recorded, which is 8.6 per cent more year on year. Eleven per cent more break-ins into houses and free-time residences were reported.

In January to September 2020, a total of 5,000 offences and infractions were recorded by the customs and 2,400 by the border guard. Compared with January to September 2019, the offences and infractions recorded by the customs decreased by 19.9 per cent and those recorded by the border guard by 75.7 per cent. The number of offences against the Criminal Code recorded by the customs was 3,900 and by the border guard 1,300.

The number of assault offences recorded during January to September 2020 was 24,400, which is 3.1 per cent fewer than that in January to September 2019.

A total of 1,107 rapes were recorded, which is 6 cases (0.5 per cent) fewer year on year.

The recorded number of sexual abuse of a child was 1,219, which is 1.1 per cent fewer than that in the year before. The Act of aggravated rape of a child entered into force on 15 April 2019. In January to September 2020, a total of 49 cases of aggravated rape of a child were reported. In the statistics, aggravated rape of a child is included in the figures on cases of sexual abuse of a child. In addition, 796 other sexual offences were reported. Of them, 367 were cases of sexual harassment, which is 34 cases (8.5 per cent) fewer than that in 2019.

In January to September 2020, a total of 177,300 offences against property were recorded, which is 15,200 cases (8.6 per cent) more than that in the previous year.

A total of 24,300 frauds (fraud, petty fraud, aggravated fraud; Criminal Code, Section 36, Paragraphs 1 to 3) were recorded, which is 9.5 per cent more than that in the year before. The number of frauds appears to be growing after a few years of decline. A total of 1,500 aggravated frauds were recorded, which is 3.3 per cent less than that one year earlier.

During January to September 2020, means-of-payment frauds numbered 5,400, which is 700 cases (12.5 per cent) more than what was in the previous year. The number of aggravated means-of-payment frauds was 141.

The number of robberies recorded was 1,600 which is 17.7 per cent up year on year. A total of 338 robberies were aggravated.

A total of 104,500 theft offences (theft, aggravated theft, petty theft) were reported, which is 10,000 cases (9.6 per cent) more than that in January to September 2019.

The number of narcotics offences recorded was 29,000, which is up by 21.5 per cent on the year before. The number of aggravated narcotics offences went down by 10.1 per cent. A total of 1,009 of them were recorded. Around two out of three narcotics offences are use offences. The number recorded was 18,300, which is 15.2 per cent more than that in 2019.