Retired police officer charged with causing death of young woman in Vantaa – trial begins
A 61-year-old retired police officer is charged with manslaughter and breach of duty of office in Vantaa in April 2023. A woman was found dead at home, despite the emergency centre having relayed the task to police.
Field commander recorded task as completed – woman died the following day
Google News FI — Crime (fi) reported on the trial in which a 61-year-old retired police officer faced charges on Thursday, 3 September for causing the death of a young woman and breaching duty of office. The acts took place in April 2023 in Vantaa, when the accused was working as a field commander.
The emergency centre received a report of a suicidal woman who needed an ambulance to a private flat. The caller was the woman's friend. According to special prosecutor Jonna Ryynänen, the field commander recorded the task as completed even though no police officers and no ambulance attended the scene. The task was closed with the note: "No action, lance task, possibly."
The woman was found dead in her home the following day.
Prosecutor: woman could have been saved
According to Ryynänen, the woman could have been saved if the police officer had performed their duty properly. The prosecutor is seeking approximately three months' conditional imprisonment for the accused.
The deceased woman's relatives support the prosecutor's demands. Their lawyer emphasises that this was a statutory duty of the police that cannot be refused.
Accused denies both charges
The accused police officer denies both charges. He told the court that he had received the report independently and had informed the emergency centre so that an ambulance would be sent to the scene.
– I genuinely believed that the ambulance would be sent to the scene. I was not informed that the ambulance was not sent to the scene.
The accused says that if he had received information that the ambulance was not going to the scene, the police would have had a duty to go there themselves. He says he worked as a field commander for over 30 years.
– Now they are putting one man's head on the block.
According to the prosecutor, however, the emergency centre's system contains no record of the accused being in contact with the emergency centre. The police officer denies this and says the emergency centre's statement is erroneous.
Defence: task belonged to emergency medical services
The police defence argues that the task related to suicidality did not fall within the police's remit, because the woman was not subject to violence or threat of violence. The defence lawyer Lars-Eric Jansson asked at the hearing:
– What would the police do there, there are no other ways to help except resuscitation.
The defence also presented a police service instruction from 2014, according to which a similar task would have belonged to emergency medical services. Prosecutor Ryynänen, however, emphasises that the instruction in question concerns mutual aid tasks and does not apply to this case, which involves a direct police task.
Jansson also commented on the woman's previous history:
– A person can kill themselves if they want to. That is not the accused's fault.
Chief superintendent: action was unlawful
A chief superintendent who worked as commander of the surveillance and alert sector at the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department at the time and was the accused's superior was heard as a witness at the hearing.
According to the chief superintendent, the emergency centre must relay tasks related to suicidality to the police under the police act.
– This comes from the police act. There cannot be a situation where the police say that a task does not fall within their remit.
He described the task allocation clearly: the emergency medical services' task is to treat the patient, the police's task is to locate the person and reach them – to go inside the flat if necessary. The chief superintendent said that the accused field commander had the applicable instructions in hand.
– This was entirely contrary to the instructions and unlawful.
According to the chief superintendent, the woman's known previous suicidality should have raised the urgency of the task.
– They could have gone there with sirens on.
He said that alert tasks related to suicidality now occur almost 2,000 times per year in the Eastern Uusimaa police area.
– There should be nothing unclear about how these are handled.
Background on the accused
The police officer now facing charges has previously been convicted of two breaches of duty of office. He has also been charged with stalking his ex-wife and suspected of assaulting a one-year-old child.
The trial continues.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)