Police must change its information handling : Päivi Nerg

The Permanent Secretary to the Interior Ministry, Päivi Nerg on Wednesday said that police have to change the way it deals with information given to them about possible criminality.

Nerg gave the statement after days of evasive explanations from high police officials referring to the need "to prioritize" when it comes to dealing with warnings about possible criminal behavior.

The discussion surrounds the recent stabbing deaths last week of two women and wounding of eight others in Turku.

Management staff at the Turku Pansio refugee reception center had approached local police seven months ago about the apparent radicalization of a young man, an asylum seeker, who is the main suspect of the attack.

Southwestern Finnish police had transferred the matter to the Finnish security police, but no action was taken at the time. No one followed up with the informants at the refugee center or the management there.

National broadcaster Yle said Wednesday that the suspect, known as 18-year-old Moroccan Abderrahman Mechkah, reportedly listened to extremist religious sermons on his mobile phone and was observed to have behaved radically in the reception center before he allegedly committed the crime.

Nerg told Finnish language newspaper Savon Sanomat that the police received some 20,000 warnings about possible criminality annually.

Besides the security police, Nerg said that neither the central branch of the criminal police nor the Helsinki unit for hate speech crimes had been able to properly cope with incoming information.

She noted that since terrorism-related violence had arrived in Sweden, Finland should become adequately prepared.

Leading politicians said earlier this week that citizens should be more active in reporting unusual behaviours.