Finland: Police Day to be held virtually on 29 August

NordenBladet – The 13th Police Day will be held on 29 August with the view to promote local and personal police work and interaction with citizens, said the National Police Board in a press release.

The day will be celebrated this year virtually due to the extraordinary situation following the coronavirus outbreak.

“The coronavirus has forced us to think outside the box to figure out how we can organise the event, which has become a tradition by now, under the 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,” said National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen.

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 10:00 AM to 1:00 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’, said Senior Adviser Ansa Jokiranta.

The traditional Police Day concert by the Helsinki Police Band will also be streamed. The online concert starts at 1:00 PM on Saturday, 29 August. 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,” said Helsinki Police Band Chief Conductor Samu Ruusuvuori.

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.