National Police Board ruled on administrative complaint

03.09.2015

National Police Board gave its ruling in September concerning administrative complaint done by ASML in December 2014 about Chief of Gambling administration, Jouni Laihos, behavior.

In the ruling National Police Board seemed to agree on all the allegations made by ASML. For example, it was stated in the ruling that:
”An official working for the National Police Board has to take into account that they represent the entire police organization”
”Standards for neutral and appropriate behavior can be set higher for an official that holds a leading position”
”It was not merely just one individual interview, but a series of similar statements in various media”
”The statements can be criticized based on their content and style”

”Based on these statements in the media one could have easily formed an impression that the official and the authority have been prejudiced towards the whole industry”

However, in the final resolution National Police Board stated that:
“Considering all the circumstances, the statements have been made mostly due to reckless behavior of the official. Therefore, as a whole, his actions have not resulted to doubt his ability to perform his duties in a proper manner. The National Police Board considered as a sufficient measure to guide the official to pay attention to the requirements of proper language.”

This seems as just a slap on the wrist, but giving that the hierarchal system* for the sanctions sets it as second strongest way to correct an official, the ruling seems to be more proportionate.
*1. To give a notification
2. To guide the official to pay attention to the proper behavior
3. To express an opinion