Police field commander charged over death of 22-year-old Nea in Vantaa
The prosecutor is seeking a conviction against an East Uusimaa police field commander for breach of official duty and manslaughter. The East Uusimaa District Court will deliver its verdict on 6 October.
Field commander marked task as completed – nobody visited Nea
According to Iltalehti, the friend of 22-year-old Nea called the emergency centre on 27 October 2023 at 21:50 because the young woman appeared to be suicidal. The emergency centre dispatched police to check on the situation in Vantaa.
A police patrol received the task with priority classification B but moved it to a waiting queue. At 22:03, the field commander on duty, the accused, logged the task as completed: "Task completed on site: no action taken. – – – Probably a hundred similar calls. Caller does not answer to obtain further information. Drop task possibly."
Nobody actually visited Nea's home. Her father found his daughter dead later.
Prosecutor: victim could have been saved
According to senior prosecutor Jonna Ryynänen, Nea could have been saved if the field commander had acted correctly. The prosecutor is now seeking approximately two or three months of conditional imprisonment for the retired police officer for breach of official duty and manslaughter.
The 61-year-old man now vehemently denies the charges. He spoke loudly in court and emphasised that the case was simply an attempt to put "one man's head on the block".
According to the police officer, the emergency centre acted wrongly by failing to dispatch an ambulance. "I acted as field commander. I saw the task. I reported on Virve radio to the emergency centre that they should send an ambulance, as the matter does not concern the police. So I reacted to the situation very quickly," the man said in court. He added that he had "genuinely come to believe that an ambulance had been sent to the scene".
According to the police officer, the error originally occurred at the emergency centre. He also claims that the emergency centre is trying to cover up its own responsibility – there is no record of the ambulance request made on the radio in the systems.
Senior superintendent: conduct contrary to guidelines and law
A senior superintendent who testified rejected the police officer's account completely. According to him, the field commander acted contrary to guidelines and even the law.
Although Nea required emergency medical care, the task belonged to the police. Police cannot decide for themselves not to accept a task from the emergency centre – let alone transfer it to another authority.
The senior superintendent also emphasised that the accused was aware of Nea's previous suicide attempts and had himself attended similar tasks at the woman's home before. "That should even be a factor that raises the priority level," the senior superintendent assessed.
The senior superintendent was the police officer's superior at the time of the incident and had trained his staff in dealing with suicidal individuals. In the East Uusimaa police area alone, suicidality results in nearly 2,000 emergency tasks per year. "There should be no confusion about how to handle these cases. In addition to training, there has been an attempt to influence police values and attitudes," he stated.
At the conclusion of his testimony, the senior superintendent expressed his condolences directly to Nea's parents: "I am truly sorry that this has happened, and on my watch as sector chief. This should never have happened." Two other police officers who testified in court also conveyed their condolences.
Parents seek compensation – verdict in October
Nea's parents are seeking €19,000 in compensation from the Finnish state or the police officer for their suffering. The East Uusimaa District Court will deliver its verdict on 6 October.
The police officer has previously been charged with breach of official duty. In 2021, a charge of assault by the police officer was dismissed due to lack of evidence. In 2025, he was convicted of two counts of breach of official duty: he obtained certain woman's details from the police database on two separate occasions without authorisation. A slander charge was dismissed. The man has previously appeared in the television series Poliisit.
Iltalehti followed the proceedings at the East Uusimaa District Court. Permission to publish Nea's name and image was obtained from her parents.
Source: Iltalehti