Police Barometer

The Police Barometer is an interview survey conducted to explore the views of citizens regarding police operations and internal security. The survey, commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, has been conducted since 1999. It is published every two years.

For each survey, approximately one thousand Finnish people aged 15−79 and living in mainland Finland are interviewed. Citizens are asked to provide their views on the police and the effectiveness of police services. They are also asked to report their personal experiences of safety and crime.

The Police Barometer provides citizens and the police with information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. By supplementing crime statistics and other records, this information helps to build a better overall picture of crime. The results of the barometer can also be used to assess the extent of unreported crime.

Each barometer is conducted by a market research institute operating in Finland, selected on the basis of a competitive bidding procedure. The Police University College reports the results in a Ministry of the Interior publication series. The material is archived in the Finnish Social Science Data Archive and is available for further scientific research.

Timescale: standard follow-up

Funding: Ministry of the Interior, budget funding

Contact person at the Police University College: Senior Planning Officer Matti Vuorensyrjä. Email address: [email protected] (please note: matti.vuorensyrja).