Finnish Police to implement OSCE/ODIHR hate crime training programme

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Police Board of Finland, signed an agreement on 28 April 2016 to strengthen the ability of law enforcement officers across the country to recognize, understand and investigate hate crimes.

The memorandum of understanding to implement ODIHR’s Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme was signed by Finland’s National Police Commissioner, Seppo Kolehmainen, and ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link.

"Finland is clearly demonstrating the will to transform their commitments to address intolerance and bias-motivated crime into action," said Link. "Individual police officers are at the centre of our approach and TAHCLE will help strengthen the skills of Finnish police officers in providing robust and swift responses to hate crimes."

The TAHCLE programme, launched in 2011, provides tailor-made training for law enforcement officers. Nine OSCE participating States have committed to implement the programme: Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland and Turkey. The city of Valencia, in Spain, and Kosovo are also implementing TACHLE.