Immigrant’s relations with the police in Finland

A Lamarckism or a self-induced exercise?

Abstrakti

Every year, thousands of immigrants emigrate from different parts of the globe to the northernmost part of Europe (Finland) either to study or start a new life. These new immigrants are expected by at a point in time in their stay in the country to become familiar with the law enforcement norms as well as the Finnish ways of life. It is against this background that many immigrant groups are becoming increasingly frustrated by their being easy targets of police stop–and-search practices carried out in pre-determined manner. Moreover the experiences of immigrants are rarely examined. The present contribution is set to fi ll this vacuum by arguing that racial controversy is not new to police work nor is it a recent phenomenon across many police institutions across the globe. However, our understanding of immigrants’ views of the police and what infl uences them to want to co-operate with the police could be of help in this direction. Therefore, those immigrants who view the police as a legitimate institution are more likely to trust and report crime to them. The key to stemming this tide is by our examining procedural justice in immigrants’ interaction with the police in Turku, Finland.