Observations and recommendations for local collaboration on referral mechanism of persons of concern in local multi-stakeholder collaboration for preventing violent radicalisation

Abstract

In August 2017, a series of stabbings took place in Turku. The perpetrator was sentenced for murder and attempted murder committed with terrorist intent. Because of this incident, a decision was made to investigate how referral to services has been organised in cases where the police do not target any measures at a person and he or she is referred to services provided by a municipality or an organisation. The aim was to clarify the processes, assess the current state of cooperation and identify development needs. A further aim was to find out how cooperation with religious communities has been organised and how it should be improved. The report includes a description of the current state that is based on interviews with local operators as well as recommendations for further work. In addition, the report describes the systems of the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom and compares these to the situation in Finland.