Finland to establish police reserve for exceptional situations

Finland is going to establish a police reserve to ensure sufficient resources in exceptional situations.

The government on Thursday proposed that the President would approve the bill on establishing a police reserve in Finland and the President is scheduled to bill on Friday, said the Ministry of the Interior in a press release.

Most of the legislative amendments are scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2027.

According to the new law, the police reserve could be deployed in the event of serious incidents under normal conditions, in emergency conditions and in a state of defence if this was essential to safeguard the resources of the police.

The reserve would be part of the police organisation. The decision when to deploy the reserve or to end the deployment would be made by the government.

The police reserve would consist of both police students at a specific stage in their studies and individuals who have completed police training but do not work as police officers, including retired employees and those working in other positions.

Participation in the reserve would be voluntary, and the reserve would comprise about 400 to 500 people.

Reserve police officers would serve in fixed-term public-service employment relationships within the police and would work under liability for acts in office.

They would perform police duties and exercise police powers. Police students would, however, work under the supervision and real-time direction of a police officer in a permanent public post. Training and up-to-date skills would be essential for an effective reserve.

As a separate matter from the reserve, the government proposal also includes an amendment to the qualification requirements for the Master of Police Services degree.

Currently, the qualification requirement for the Master's degree is an applicable Bachelor’s degree in a university of applied sciences or other applicable university degree.

In future, the Police University College could also admit to studies leading to the Master’s degree a person who is deemed to have sufficient knowledge and skills for the studies, and who has at least three years of work experience as a police officer in Finland.

Earlier in March this year, the government submitted the proposal to Parliament with the view to establish a police reserve in Finland and the parliament approved it later.