Study title

Police Barometer 2010

Dataset ID Number

FSD2708

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2708
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2708

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Ministry of the Interior. Police Department

Abstract

The survey studied Finnish public opinion on the role and services of the police, feelings about safety and security, fear of crime, experiences of crime, and trust in the national institutions in crime prevention.

First, the respondents were asked how important certain bodies (e.g. the Church, the Customs, schools, the Armed Forces) were to crime prevention and to improving the safety of their neighbourhood. Opinions on the extent to which the police force can prevent civil disorder and maintain safety were charted as well as whether the respondents had experiences of international crime.

The respondents were asked how important certain things were in terms of maintaining public order and safety by the police, for instance, that the employment situation would improve, people suffering from substance abuse would receive treatment, prostitution would be prohibited and that the police would adopt zero-tolerance towards law-breaking. Views were probed on which tasks of the police were important. One theme examined the ways and means of improving traffic safety.

Sense of security and fear of crime were studied by asking how worried the respondents were about certain things (e.g. assaults, housebreaking, drink driving, sexual harassment, Internet data security). Some questions focused on how safe the respondents felt at home during the day, in the city centre after dark, in their neighbourhood late at night, etc. The respondents were asked whether they themselves had become victims of certain crimes, whether they had notified the police, and if not, why. Further questions surveyed whether the respondents had been eyewitnesses to any crimes (e.g. stealing or car theft) or witnesses/complainants in a criminal procedure, and whether they had experienced a threat or pressure from somebody subjected to a criminal procedure. In addition, measures taken by the respondents to reduce the risk of crime (e.g. use of burglar alarms or avoidance of city centre after dark) were charted.

Opinions on the accessibility and visibility of the police were examined by asking what the distance was from their home to the nearest police station, and whether the respondents had used the online services of the police. The quality of police services were assessed with questions about the last time the respondents had contacted the police, reasons for doing so, and how they had been treated. The respondents also rated how well the police had succeeded in solving crimes, preventing crime, keeping in touch with citizens, providing help quickly, etc.

Opinions on the attitude of the police towards people from different ethnic backgrounds were studied. The survey also charted opinions on the development of the services provided by the police as well as trust in the police, emergency and protective services, private security guards, the Border Guard, the Customs, and the Armed Forces. Opinions on the likelihood of police corruption were surveyed. In conclusion, the respondents were asked how long they had lived in their municipality of residence, how often they travelled abroad, how often they spent time in the population centre of their municipality in the evening or at night, and whether they themselves or a close relative worked in the police force.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, employment status, economic activity and occupational status, marital status, economic activity and occupational status of the main earner of the household, household composition, number and ages of children living in the household, number of persons in the household, household income, R's education, consumer durables in the household, type of accommodation, size of the municipality of residence, degree of urbanity, and province of residence.

Keywords

crime and security; fear of crime; law enforcement; offences; personal safety; police services; police-community relationship; 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

• Taloustutkimus

Data Producers

• Ministry of the Interior. Police Department

Time Period Covered

2010

Collection Dates

2010-04-12 – 2010-05-03

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 15-79 living in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Quota

Quota sampling based on the age, gender, region, and municipality type distributions of the target population. 1027 persons were interviewed in 80 municipalities, 44 of which were cities and 36 other localities.

Collection Mode

Interview

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

The intention in questions 37a/37b "What is the distance from your home to the nearest police station/police service point?" was to record answers as metres and round these to the nearest 500 metres, but many of the answers were recorded as kilometres or rounded to the nearest value other than the intended 500. The coding of these variables has been left in its original form.

To prevent identification, background variable bv23 (municipality of residence) was removed from the data.

Weighting

The data include a weight variable that weights the sample to correspond to the target population.

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 2010 [dataset]. Data version 2.0 (2018-08-10). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2708; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2708

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 Publications

Poliisibarometri 2010. Kansalaisten näkemyksiä ja kokemuksia poliisitoiminnasta ja sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta (2010) [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Sisäasiainministeriö. Sisäasiainministeriön julkaisut 29/2010. ISBN (pdf) 978-952-491-615-8 [viitattu 30.8.2012].

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, M. 2018. Police Management Reform, Labor Productivity, and Citizens' Evaluation of Police Services. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.

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.

Haarla, Sanna. 2021. Maailman turvallisin ja luotettavin maa? Suomalaisten luottamus yksityisiin vartiointiliikkeisiin ja poliisiin sekä rikollisuuden pelko 2000-luvun Suomessa. Pro gradu -tutkielma. Turun yliopisto. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021082443996

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

Vuorensyrjä, M. 2023. Downsizing and Recovery: Perceived Quality of Police Services in Finland Before, During, and After Three Major Police Management Reform Programs. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 17, https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad053