Police Day is a well-established tradition. Its aim is to promote local and personal police work and interaction with citizens. The Police Day event is being held for the 12th time this year, and the venue is one that has been very popular during this extraordinary situation – online.
‘The coronavirus has forced us to think outside the box to figure out how we can organise the event – which is a tradition by now – this year under these circumstances, or if we should just cancel it this year. We did not want to cancel, since the event has proven to be an excellent opportunity to meet people and inspire discussion all over the country. To ensure physical distancing, we decided to organise it as an online event’, says National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen.
Enabling interaction
This year, the event presents the diverse tasks of the Finnish Police. The event’s themes are based on the police strategy 2020–2024: The police keep everyone safe, at all times.
‘The event being virtual has its benefits and its challenges. We thought long and hard about how we could reach as many citizens as possible and also create interaction. This led to the idea of organising a national live broadcast. The stream will be live on Saturday 29 August from 10 am to 1 pm, and all police departments and units will participate. Citizens can participate by sending questions in advance, asking them in real-time during the stream or by taking the fun test “What kind of police officer would you be?” and sharing the results on Facebook’, says Senior Adviser Ansa Jokiranta.
The operations of the Finnish Police will be introduced via different themes during the stream. The three-hour stream will include discussions on the new Road Traffic Act, environmental crime, trust and sense of security, and, of course, police dogs and horses. The hosts and speakers are mostly police officers – and one is a police dog – but the Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and the National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen are also participating.
New ways of working come from cooperation
The traditional Police Day concert of the Helsinki Police Band will also be streamed. The online concert starts at 1 pm on Saturday 29 August, and the performers include Paula Koivuniemi, Suvi Teräsniska and Mikael Saari. ‘The Helsinki Police Band is known for its education concerts aimed at children and teenagers, so our stakeholders, whom we have been working very closely with especially now during the coronavirus crisis, will be featured at the Police Day concert as well’, says Samu Ruusuvuori, Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Police Band.
In addition to the live streams, the social media channels of police departments will host their own live broadcasts, and the accounts will also post preproduced videos on the local activities of the departments. ‘This is the first time we are doing anything like this, and it’s been great to see how everyone has jumped on board with enthusiasm, and have even stepped outside their comfort zone to make this event happen. Organising the event this year has really crystallised what we can achieve with cooperation within the Finnish Police and with our stakeholders. Even though I hope next year the Police Day event can be a face-to-face event, we hope to “see” all of you at our virtual event this year’, Jokiranta concludes.
More information on the Police Day programme and social media channels: poliisinpaiva.fi
Advance questions can be sent to: poliisinpaiva@poliisi.fi
