npm annual report 2016 / observations and recommendations 3.1 Police detention facilities It is the duty of the police to arrange the detention of persons deprived of their liberty not only in connection with police matters but also as part of the activities of the Customs and the Border Guard. Most of the apprehensions, over 60,000 every year, are due to intoxication. The second largest group concerns persons who are suspected of an offence. A small number of people detained under the Aliens Act are also held in police prisons. Depending on the reason, the duration of detention may vary from a few hours to several months. There are approximately sixty police prisons in Finland. Their sizes and rates of use vary greatly. The largest police departments are currently undergoing a renovation programme. Within its mandate as the NPM, the Deputy-Ombudsman has conducted dozens of visits to police detention facilities over the past two years. In 2016, 16 visits were made to police prisons. The facilities visited were located in Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Porvoo (two visits), Vantaa (two visits), Espoo, Lahti, Vaasa, Kokkola, Jakobstad, Ylivieska, Raahe, Oulu, Mariehamn and Tampere. In addition, the operations of two detoxification centres (in Espoo and Tampere) were also examined. Visits to police prisons are usually unannounced. During the year under review, only one visit to a police prison was pre-announced. The reason for the announcement was to ensure that the doctor of the police prison would be present because an external medical expert also participated in the visit. One police prison was subjected to both a regular visit and a follow-up visit during the same year. The follow-up visit proved useful because the police prison had not effectively implemented all the measures required after the first visit. The observations and recommendations made during the year under review mainly concerned the same aspects as the year before. The most important issues were related to outdoor exercise facilities and opportunities, cells and their equipment, health care and the provision of information on rights. The following contains a summary of the observations and recommendations made. • Only a few police prisons have facilities for activities outside the cells. As a rule, the outdoor exercise yards at police prisons are small. Some of them are so enclosed and secure that there is no view outside and, for instance, tobacco smoke remains in the space for a long time. It is questionable whether being in such areas can be called outdoor recreation at all. 19