Professor Matti Tolvanen told Yle that the law lays down only minimal rules about how police use informants. The Police Act contains only a single clause on the subject, which states that police can have sources, who can be registered and can be paid. “The rest comes down to the police’s own guidelines and practices,” Tolvanen said.
The professor’s comments come after Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen announced an inquiry into Helsinki Police’s use and oversight of informants, in the wake of bribery allegations against the head of Helsinki’s drugs unit. At a press conference on Thursday Räsänen said she had received information which could indicate that the police acted unlawfully by having no registered sources. “In my view the law cannot be neglected in police operations,” she said.
The police have defended their actions, maintaining that registering sources may have hampered their ability to receive information from informants.
Despite the Interior Minister’s criticism, Professor Tolvanen believes that such conduct may be permissible. “My view is that an individual must give their consent before they begin acting as an informant, but the question of registration is, to my understanding, down to the police themselves. The law does not demand it,” he said.
The Interior Minister told reporters that the inquiry into Helsinki police’s behaviour will be conducted by the independent Office of the Prosecutor General. She also told Chief of Police Mikko Paatero that he has until Monday to consider whether he should stay in his job.
