Safe public space

People must feel safe in public spaces and know how to prevent and notice risks. For this, we have to improve people’s knowledge and skills with regard to preventing dangerous situations and protecting themselves and others, if necessary. Safe public spaces must facilitate safe conduct and prevent risk behaviour.

One of the most important tasks of the Ministry of the Interior is to ensure the safety of the people and to create a legal environment for the prompt, efficient and just processing of offences appropriate for a democratic country.

The Ministry of the Interior ensures a legal framework for protecting public order, responding to calls for assistance and ensuring security, as well as for preventing, combating, detecting and processing offences, and supports volunteer associations and activities in the area of internal security. The Ministry is also responsible for the development of forensic policy, the coordination of the activities of state institutions in the area and organisation of service supervision.

Principles of Estonia’s security policy

Public order and its meaningful protection are a characteristic of a safe living environment and a secure country.

Estonia’s security policy is based on five main principles, on which the Ministry of the Interior also relies in protecting public order and creating security.

Everyone’s responsibility

Everyone’s own responsibility and duty to increase the security for themselves and their close ones and to raise their children to be responsible members of society is of utmost importance.

Inclusion

Violations of order cannot be avoided or notably reduced only by executive state power. Residents, local governments and the private and non-profit sector must be engaged in creating a safe living environment and allowed to participate in making decisions that influence them.

Cooperation

In order to implement the main objectives of the security policy, the public, private and non-profit sectors and the people must cooperate at the national, local and individual level. Good cooperation is characterised by finding common ground in activities related to protecting public order, the coordinated planning and implementation of those activities, and mutual consultation.

Prevention

Using social and environment-based prevention measures to ensure security helps reduce suffering and is cheaper and more effective than dealing with the consequences of violations of order. Prevention starts from everyone’s awareness in planning the organisation of their life so that the probability of encountering situations of danger is as small as possible.

Long-term planning

Violations of order cannot, in the long run, be avoided or significantly reduced by single measures. The security of society can only be increased as a result of coordinated long-term work. Above all, this means consistent budget planning and taking into account changes in the external environment and an open way of thinking in order to find new solutions.

Creating a sense of security

The level of security can be measured with risk perception studies, which determine how secure Estonia’s residents feel. The residents’ satisfaction with the work of the police also indicates the sense of security.

In posting the daily patrol crews, developing regional police work and organising traffic supervision, the police relies on risk analyses, and therefore it is important to work closely together with local governments and community members in order to obtain good feedback about what is happening in the region and to prevent violations of order.

The main tasks of regional police officers are to contribute to cooperation between institutions and associations that contribute to creating security, determine and solve problems that disrupt the security of the community within the limits of their competence, perform supervision over the fulfilment of requirements for conduct in public places, and prevent or determine the commission of offences.

The overall sense of security and trust towards the police is increased by a rapid and professional response to events that require police intervention, as well as by local security being ensured by assistant police officers and neighbourhood watch members who are the pillars of law enforcement in the community alongside regional police officers.

Expiry of a weapons permit

As a rule, weapons permits are issued for five years.

An application for extension must be submitted at least two months before the expiry of the permit. In Estonia, only individuals who are citizens of Estonia, a NATO or an EU country and who have a residence permit or right of residence in Estonia can extend their weapons permit.

You can check the validity of your weapons permit at the state portal eesti.ee or at the self-service portal of the Police and Border Guard Board.

Read more about it here.

Last updated: 31.01.2024