Seasonal mobility of populations and allocation of police resources in Finland

Abstract

This study analyses the impact of the seasonal mobility of populations on the emergency response times (ERT) of the police. The concept of multi-locality increases the mobility of people but, however, the public service structures of the society and different administrative systems do not sufficiently account for that. The results of the mixed-model regression demonstrate the challenges in the police resources allocation when people are acting in different areas than expected. Emergency response times was lengthened as the seasonal population increased and spatially dispersed over the regions during the seasons. We suggest that the seasonal mobility should be involved the future planning process of police resource allocation.