Police to introduce billing for official assistances

The police are going to introduce fees for providing support to other authorities or individuals, reported the national broadcaster Yle, quoting a police source on Thursday.

If the fees are introduced, it will include invoicing child protection authorities or veterinarians, said the Yle report, adding that the police payment is not new but was implemented seldom in the past.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo on Thursday expressed her concern at the police decision to begin charging fees for providing backup in various critical tasks such as child protection or mental health rehabilitation.

The minister in a Twitter post also said that she has issued an urgent order to correct the situation quickly.

A rule allowing for police to charge for providing backup services has been in force since 1994, but the revenue stream has been negligible so far, the police board said.

According to the regulation, support duties that are free of charge include tasks related to the Mental Health Act, Civil Service Law, Employment Accident and Occupational Disease Act, implementation of sentences, assistance to defence forces and foreclosure situations.

Police assistance is also needed to protect healthcare staff in certain situations or to force doors open when child protection authorities search for missing young people, for instance.

The police receive about 70,000 requests for official assistance each year, and about half of them will be invoiced from now on, the Yle report quoted the police as saying.

The bill will be prepared based on the hourly rate of 165 euros for two police officers along with a car and 70 euros for one police officer.