Retired police officer charged with causing death of young woman in Vantaa
A 61-year-old former field commander is accused of marking an alert as completed without assistance reaching a suicidal woman. The woman was found dead the following day.
Field commander recorded task as completed – woman found dead
Yle News is following a trial in which a 61-year-old retired police officer was charged on Thursday, 3 September, with causing the death of a young woman and breach of official duty. The events took place in April 2023 in Vantaa.
The woman's friend called the emergency centre and reported a suicidal woman who needed an ambulance at a private flat. According to special prosecutor Jonna Ryynänen, the accused, who was working as a field commander at the time, recorded the task as completed even though neither police nor an ambulance attended the scene. According to the prosecutor, the task was recorded as closed with the notation: "No action, lance task, possibly."
The woman was found dead at her home the following day.
Prosecutor: woman could have been saved
According to Ryynänen, the woman could have been saved if the police had performed their task correctly. The prosecutor is demanding approximately three months' conditional imprisonment for the accused.
The deceased woman's relatives support the prosecutor's demands. The relatives' lawyer emphasises that this was a police task, and the police had no right to refuse it.
Accused denies charges
The accused police officer denies both charges. He told the court that he had taken the report himself and had informed the emergency centre so that an ambulance would be sent to the location.
– I genuinely believed that the lance was sent to the location. I was not informed that an ambulance was not sent to the location, the accused says.
According to him, if he had received information that the ambulance would not attend, the police would have been obliged to go themselves. The defence also believes that the woman was not subject to violence or threats of violence, which is why, in their view, this was not a police task.
– What would the police do there, there are no other possibilities to help than resuscitation, the police's lawyer Lars-Eric Jansson asks.
Jansson adds: – A person can end their own life if they wish. That is not the accused's fault.
The accused says he worked as a field commander for over 30 years. – Now they are putting one man's head on the block, he states.
According to the prosecutor, the emergency centre's system contains no information that the accused was in contact with the emergency centre. The accused disputes the accuracy of the emergency centre's statement.
Chief superintendent: conduct was unlawful
At the hearing, a chief superintendent who, at the time of the events, served as the head of the surveillance and alert sector at the Eastern Uusimaa police department and the accused's superior, was heard as a witness.
According to the witness, the emergency centre must always relay a task to the police when a suicidal person is involved. – This comes from the Police Act. There cannot be a situation where the police state that the task is not theirs, the chief superintendent says.
According to him, the first aid task is to treat the patient, but the police task is to locate the person and reach them – for example, to enter the flat. The chief superintendent adds that information about the woman's previous suicidal behaviour should have raised the urgency of the task. – They could have gone there with lights and sirens.
According to the chief superintendent, the field commander was aware of valid national guidelines and acted contrary to them in the situation. – This was completely contrary to the guidelines and unlawful, the chief superintendent states.
According to the defence, the guidelines are unclear and can be interpreted differently. The chief superintendent disputes this: – The guidelines cannot be misunderstood in his view.
In the Eastern Uusimaa police area, according to the chief superintendent, nearly 2,000 alert tasks related to suicide are recorded annually. – There should be nothing unclear about how these are handled.
Previous convictions and suspicions
The police officer now charged has previously been convicted of two breaches of official duty. He has also been accused of harassing his ex-wife and suspected of assaulting a one-year-old child.
Yle News reports the woman's health information because it is essential for understanding the legal assessment of the case and the arguments of the parties. The matter also has broader societal significance regarding which authority a person can expect to receive assistance from in an emergency situation.
In Finland, police are very rarely charged or convicted on the basis that they have caused another person's death whilst carrying out their official duties.
Source: Yle Uutiset