Finland's prison population reduces due to lighter sentences

The Finnish prison population has diminished by one third in ten years, the country's national broadcaster Yle reported on Sunday.

At the end of 2014 there were some 2,800 prisoners in the country whose population is about five million, while at the end of 2005 the number was 3,800.

Criminality in general has declined in Finland, but the reduced need for inmate capacity has been caused mainly by changes in legislation done with the aim of avoiding imprisonments, a reform that reduced the use of prison time as an alternative for paying fines in particular, reported Yle.

The national Criminal Sanctions Agency is under budgetary requirements to downsize. Three prisons are likely to be closed and 180 staff positions cancelled.

The director general of the agency Tuula Asikainen told Yle that the number of employees has been reduced by 500 over the past ten years.

The prison staff union has expressed concern about safety. "Violence among the inmates is possible when there is no staff around," chairman Jari Tuomela told Yle. The daily cost of keeping a person in prison in Finland is around 200 euros.

Yle noted that the whole prison population in Finland could now be accommodated to a Baltic Sea cruise liner. That would, however, require double occupancy in cabins. In Finnish prisons single occupancy accommodation is common.