Study title

Police Barometer 2003

Dataset ID Number

FSD2050

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2050

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Ministry of the Interior. Police Department

Abstract

Respondents were presented with the same questions in the police barometers of the years 2001 and 2003. Citizens' views on general safety and security in Finland, police activities, the quality of police services, and fear of crime were surveyed. At first, respondents evaluated Finland's internal safety, the role of the police, and the ability of the police to guarantee general order and safety. Different tasks of the police and their priorities were charted. Some questions covered the threat of international crime in Finland, and different ways of controlling traffic safety.

Citizens' sense of security and fear of crime were studied by asking how worried they were about certain things (e.g. assaults, housebreaking, drink driving, sexual harassment and Internet data security). Questions covered how safe the respondent feels at home during the day, in the city center after dark or in his/her residential area late at night. Respondents were asked how serious a problem crime was in their area and whether they had been crime victims themselves. Further questions surveyed whether the respondents had been eyewitnesses to any crimes (e.g. stealing, car theft or threats with arms), whether they had been witnesses or complainants in a criminal procedure, and whether they had experienced threat or pressure from somebody subjected to a criminal procedure.

Respondents' opinions on the accessibility and visibility of the police were examined by asking which number they would call when needing the police, how often they see police patrols in their neighbourhood, and what is the distance from their home to the nearest police station. The quality of police services were assessed with questions about the last time the respondent had contacted the police, reasons for doing so and how (s)he had been treated.

Respondents assessed the attitude of the police towards people from different cultures. The survey also charted the respondents' trust in the police, emergency and protective services, private security guards, Border Guards, the Customs, and the Armed Forces. Respondents also rated how well the police have succeeded in, for example, solving crimes, crime prevention, keeping in touch with citizens, and providing help quickly etc.

In conclusion, respondents were asked how long they had lived in the area and whether they themselves or a close relative work in the police force. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, economic activity, type of municipality of residence, level of education, number of persons in the household, household composition, income, province and region of residence, and political party preference.

Keywords

citizens; crime and security; crime victims; evaluation; fear of crime; law enforcement; offences; personal safety; police services; police-community relationship; public services; road safety; trust; witnesses

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Crime and law enforcement (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Police Barometers

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Gallup Finland

Data Producers

• Ministry of the Interior. Police Department

Time Period Covered

2003

Collection Dates

2003-11-03 – 2003-12-04

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15 and over living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Multistage stratified sampling. At the first stage, the sample was stratified according to province, in the second stage according to municipality type. In the third stage sample addresses were drawn. The sample is representative of the Finnish population (excluding the Åland Islands population).

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview: Computer-assisted (CAPI/CAMI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Variables Municipality of residence and Postal code number have been removed from the data.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Ministry of the Interior: Police Barometer 2003 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-09-14). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2050

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Poliisibarometri 2003 : poliisitoiminnan kansalaisarviointi : haastattelututkimus (2004). Helsinki : Sisäasiainministeriön poliisiosasto. - (Sisäasiainministeriön julkaisu 17/2004) [verkkodokumentti]. Julkaistu myös painettuna. Saatavissa: http://www.intermin.fi/intermin/biblio.nsf/074F3578ADB69AFDC2256E4E004D02D9/$file/17-2004.pdf [viitattu 22.8.2005].

Related Publications

Poliisibarometri 2003: poliisitoiminnan kansalaisarviointi: haastattelututkimus (2004). Helsinki: Sisäasiainministeriön poliisiosasto. Sisäasiainministeriön julkaisu; 17/2004.

Manninen, Pentti & Käyhkö, Esa (2010). Poliisibarometrit 1999-2010. Faktorianalyysi [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Sisäasiainministeriö. Sisäinen turvallisuus. Sisäasiainministeriön julkaisuja 30/2010. http://www.intermin.fi/julkaisu/302010 [viitattu 23.3.2015].

Vuorensyrjä, Matti & Fagerlund, Monica (2016). Poliisibarometri 2016. Kansalaisten käsitykset poliisin toiminnasta ja sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Sisäministeriö. Sisäinen turvallisuus. Sisäministeriön julkaisu 27/2016. http://www.intermin.fi/julkaisu/272016 [viitattu 10.10.2016]

Fagerlund, M. & Kääriäinen, J. (2018). Intervening in Domestic Violence as a Police Task: Legal Reform and Policing Versus Citizens' Perspective. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention , 19 (1), 78-97.

Vuorensyrjä, Matti & Fagerlund, Monica (2018). Poliisibarometri 2018. Kansalaisten arviot poliisin toiminnasta ja Suomen sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta. Raportteja 130. Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu, Tampere. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-815-344-6.

Kujala, Pietari. (2021). Gendered feelings of unsafety and avoidance of local central areas in Finland 2001-2016. Nordic Journal of Criminology, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/2578983X.2021.1950466

Vuorensyrjä, Matti & Rauta, Jenita (2020). Poliisibarometri 2020. Kansalaisten arviot poliisin toiminnasta ja Suomen sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta. Helsinki: Sisäministeriö. Sisäinen turvallisuus. Sisäministeriön julkaisuja 2020:12. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-324-641-6

Vuorensyrjä, Matti & Fagerlund, Monica (2018). Poliisibarometri 2018. Kansalaisten arviot poliisin toiminnasta ja Suomen sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta. Tampere: Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu. Poliisiammattikorkeakoulun raportteja 130. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-815-344-6