12 cooperation 1.2 Cooperation Cooperation with other operators In the administrative branch of policing, police prisons and inspection visits to them are regularly discussed at meetings of the National Police Board and the network for the oversight of legality within the police force. Summaries of all decisions on actions regarding the police – including those on police prisons – are sent to the National Police Board (which further distributes them among departments), the National Bureau of Investigations, and the Police University College of Finland. Reports on visits to police prisons are always submitted to the National Police Board and the police department in question and, when necessary, directly to the police prison. Internal oversight of legality at police departments is conducted by separate legal units. It has been emphasised that these units should also inspect the operations of the police prisons in their respective territories. Each year, the National Police Board provides the Parliamentary Ombudsman with a report on the oversight of legality within its area of responsibility. The Defence Forces and the Finnish Border Guard also submit annual reports to the Parliamentary Ombudsman on their internal oversight of legality. In the field of criminal sanctions, reports on inspection visits are sent for information to the Central Administration of the Criminal Sanctions Agency, the management of the criminal sanctions region in question, and the Department of Criminal Policy at the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the central and regional administrations are often requested to report measures taken as a result of the observations. The Parliamentary Ombudsman receives reports on the facilities visited, drawn up for the internal oversight of legality in the criminal sanctions field. Furthermore, each month, the Criminal Sanctions Agency provides the Ombudsman with its statistics on the number of prisoners and amount of prison leave. Among other things, the prisoner statistics indicate the number of remand prisoners, male and female prisoners, and prisoners under the age of 21. The statistics on prison leave give an indication of the processing practices concerning leave applications in each prison, or in other words, how many prisoners apply for leave and how often, and how much leave is granted. The visits also draw attention to the processing of prison leave applications, emphasising the importance of taking the related decisions individually, based on the law and reasonable grounds. In 2017, the Criminal Sanctions Agency lawyers in charge of legal oversight were invited to the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman to discuss collaboration and problems identified during legality oversight. The closing discussion on the visit was attended by two representatives of the Criminal Sanctions Region of Southern Finland. Representatives of the national association for prisoners’ families (Vankien Omaiset ry) were invited to the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman in December 2017 to introduce the association and its work, as well as their experiences of the operations of the Criminal Sanctions Agency from the family perspective. The Ombudsman also continues its collaboration and exchange of information with Kriminaalihuollon tukisäätiö (KRITS), a nationwide non-governmental non-profit aftercare organisation for released prisoners. Krits makes visits to ten prisons annually, and therefore holds a wealth of in-