Cultural enrichment 101
Though the article fails to mention exactly who these ‘youths are, (Somalis mainly) the state owned news broadcaster Yle however, manages to show some ankle:
According to Helsinki police all of the suspects are boys. Officials also believe that their victims have been targeted at random. Lotta dismissed online claims that native Finns are being specifically targeted by the group.
Just the other week 30 ‘youths’ beat up 5 ethnic Finns, everyone caught thus far has been a Muslim/Somali. Then the article makes the usual knee-jerk assumption that it’s got to be about ‘social problems’,
“It is difficult. But our officers are on the trail, we know the perpetrators. The background of this is social problems. Unless we can do something about that even our crime prevention efforts won’t yield any results,” he remarked.
Huh? If the police know the perps, why aren’t they in the slammer? As for ‘social problems’, you can thank the feckless politicians who guaranteed their migration into the country, instead of sending them packing back to their homeland the moment they crossed from Russia into Finland.
Helsinki police struggle to rein in youth gang
A large and rowdy group of about 50 Helsinki youths has been on the rampage in the capital area, assaulting and robbing other teens. Helsinki police have been trying to turn the screws on the motley crew, who’ve been organising via the instant messaging platform Whatsapp.
Police say they have so far held about 20 of the young gang members and know many of the budding offenders. Four youths aged 15 to 18 years old have already been detained on suspicion of robbery and aggravated assault.
The group has allegedly come together from the end of the summer and during the autumn using the messaging platform Whatsapp to organise their illicit activities.
“Group members aged 13 to 18 go there (Whatsapp) to chat and agree on meeting up. Usually they move about the city in packs of about three,” Superintendent Tuomo Lotta told Yle.
One of the detained group members told police of some kind of leader who issues commands to steal or rob and manhandle victims. Lotta said police have received information that with a few exceptions, about 70 reported cases involved acts of violence.
“Victims have received stab wounds and have been beaten about the head. The detainees haven’t been able to give any rational reason for attacking others. There seems to be some kind of subculture that involves unwarranted violence against innocent people,” Lotta added, noting that some of the youngest gang members have been guilty of the worst acts of violence.
Police trying to prevent further violence
According to Helsinki police all of the suspects are boys. Officials also believe that their victims have been targeted at random. Lotta dismissed online claims that native Finns are being specifically targeted by the group.
The most recent attacks were reported last weekend, when three of the youths were taken into custody. They are due to appear in court for detention hearings due to the gravity of their acts.
Meanwhile Helsinki city police have devoted more personnel resources to investigating the upsurge in youth criminal activity. According to Superintendent Lotta apart from identifying a possible ringleader, police want to prevent additional wrongdoing.
“It is difficult. But our officers are on the trail, we know the perpetrators. The background of this is social problems. Unless we can do something about that even our crime prevention efforts won’t yield any results,” he remarked.
The police investigation was first reported by commercial broadcaster MTV.
