Police weighing up values this year

The police are weighing up values in 2024 with the aim of identifying the most important values guiding police operations, said the National Police Board in a press release on Friday.

The values will be confirmed later in 2024.

For the socially significant work of the police to be successful, it is important that, besides legislation and other norms, the operations are based on a solid value base.

Policing requires trust, which is earned in every situation and customer encounter – acting in accordance with the police values.

The aim of the police is for stakeholders to have an up-to-date situational picture of the strategic objectives, everyday operations, the operating environment and future prospects of the police.

The objectives can be achieved through good cooperation with stakeholders.

“We value our stakeholders' views on what the future and the strategic objectives of the police require of us, which is why we want to hear the expectations of us from the aspect of stakeholder cooperation,” said Annika Skogster, Senior Adviser of the National Police Board.

The police began working on values last spring. Citizens' thoughts were heard on Police Day on 10 August and the police's work on values now aims to identify stakeholder expectations through previous surveys, the now published survey and value discussions at stakeholder events.

“The survey is aimed at a broad target group and has been evaluated especially from the perspective of value discussions. We look forward to plenty of contributions,” Skogster said.

The values of the police were first adopted in 2008 and reviewed in 2017 in conjunction with updating the police strategy.

Fairness, customer service, professionalism and staff welfare were selected as the police values.

The work on values launched this spring is examining the relevance of these values for the police in the 2020s.