According to Police Chief Risto Lammi, Turku is still quite a safe place.
In Turku three knife-related crimes have occurred in just over two weeks, and assaults have increased in public places. Chief of Police of the Southwest Finland Police Department Risto Lammi commented to HS that Turku is still quite a safe city.
“There have been several serious acts of violence here in a short time, but if we look at the statistics, the number of serious acts of violence is not increasing,” he says.
Lammi commented to HS on the city’s general security situation.
However, he adds that the number of assaults in public places is on the rise. The police chief does not speculate on the reasons for the increase.
“We don’t have an unequivocal answer.”
Lammi does not see street gangs or especially youth gangs as the unifying factor for the increase in the number of assaults. Gangs caused concern in the city earlier in the spring, for example around Hansakorttel.
July On the 11th, a 17-year-old boy was stabbed on the west bank of Aurajoki near Teattersilta. The victim was seriously injured. A 15-year-old suspected of attempted murder was imprisoned in the district court of Varsinais-Suomen.
A stabbing took place in Runosmäki on Wednesday evening, July 20, which the police is also investigating as attempted murder. The victim was seriously injured and was hospitalized. The police caught the perpetrator, and there was no danger to bystanders.
Read more: Stabbing in Turku’s Runosmäki – Police are investigating attempted murder
Read more: Two arrested in Turku for attempted murder – The second suspect is barely 15 years old
On Saturday, July 23, a 24-year-old man threatened people with a knife in a hamburger restaurant on Aurakatu. The man is suspected of aggravated attempted assault and illegal threat.
A gross attempted assault targeted a minor boy who was in the restaurant. According to the police, there are a total of seven people involved in the illegal threat, at least some of whom are minors.
Read more: The police are investigating the stabbing incident in Turku on Saturday as an attempted aggravated assault and an illegal threat
In addition, a 22-year-old man is suspected of attempted murder in the July 8 act of violence near Auransilla. The male victim was seriously injured.
Police commissioner Lammi reminds us that even though there have been several serious acts of violence within a couple of weeks, it can only be due to statistical chance.
“But the number of assaults in public places is increasing, and it’s not a matter of chance,” he emphasizes.
However, according to the police chief, it is safe to move around in Turku. If necessary, the police can get to the scene in Turku for urgent tasks in about seven minutes, he points out.
“Measured by the street safety index, the area of the Southwest Finland Police Department is in the middle level category in Finland. In big cities, the safety index is weaker, but Turku is still quite a safe place.”
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