Page 35 - The police annual report 2016 annual report 2016

In 2016, the ninth season of the "Poliisit" TV series was being lmed. Pictured
are horses and riders of the Helsinki Mounted Police.
INTERNAL CONTROL, SECURITY AND COMMUNICATION
LEGALITY CONTROL means the monitoring of the legality of the activities of the authorities and compliance with good administra- tive practices.
The purpose of the police's legality control is to promote the reali- sation of the goals set for the police, and maintain and improve the correctness and quality of police operations while also reinforcing public trust in police activities and their legality. For its part, legality control helps prevent errors and correct incorrect procedures.
Now that the legal units established at the police departments have began their opera- tions, the objective is to increasingly handle legality control matters on a local level as often as possible instead of involving a central government authority, allowing any de cien- cies identi ed during the legality control to
be ef ciently handled in cooperation with the local leadership directing the operations.
Each year, the National Police Board receives around 400 to 500 letters that can be consid- ered to be complaints; a majority of these are transferred to police units to be processed. When it comes to complaints, the National Police Board's legality control has, in accord- ance with the legality control instructions of the police, aimed to focus on cases that deal with key principles or are wide-reaching cases carrying major interest or concerning multiple different police units. Additionally, the National Police Board handles complaints requiring
signi cant policy decisions or concerning the leadership of the police unit in question.
Instead of simply dealing with individual trials, the objective in trials associated with the Na- tional Police Board's legality control has been to support the units and provide guidance in trial-related matters in cooperation with the unit concerned, where necessary. However, the National Police Board has continued to handle trials which have involved a major govern- ment interest or which have affected multiple police units.
The sanction practices of the legality control
of the police were harmonised during 2016, and the uniformity of the operations of the legal units has been promoted, in addition
to legality inspections, through centralised training and the utilisation of the networked working method of the National Police Board's Chiefs and Staff Unit, the legal units, and the representatives of national units.
THE POLICE, ANNUAL REPORT 2016 35