Brno, July 31 (BD) – All the acts of kindness police patrols come across during their service are presented on their website. An initiative Blue life was launched as a motivation for Brno citizens in commemoration of Czech adventure writer and scout Jaroslav Foglar.
It is not a commonplace for police to leave a trail of some positive deeds. Press releases usually list only crimes and there is no room to share the goodness, police often bump into during their patrol. Brno decided to change such negative attitude and since July, Brno Metropolitan Police has been publishing a database of how people in Brno help each other on their website.
The inspiration came from scout and writer Jaroslav Foglar. One of his stories tells about everyday heroes who instead of ticking the days off calendar, paint them blue when they happen to help and were rather kind than reckless. The database of good deeds was launched on July 6, the day of 110th anniversary of Foglar’s birth.
To openly publish good deeds is supposed to motivate the citizens. “We often come into contact with the fact, that published information about returning lost wallet triggers similar reaction the next day when e.g. 5 more loyal citizens return the lost items,” notes Jakub Ghanem, the Brno city police spokesperson for Ceskatelevize.cz.
What good deeds are in Blue life?
There are many stories on lost but returned items such as valid tram ticket, phone, purse, and even a personal computer with flight tickets. Incidents which saved people’s lives or health were also reported; to list just a few examples: helping to a 3-year old child sitting on the windowsill or saving disoriented woman in the middle of a field. People were mindful enough to call police when BMW car was left with its car keys in the car door.
“I would not say that good deeds are exceptional. They are simply underreported. I have been working for 20 years as a police officer and I have experienced plenty of incidents when people actually helped us,” Milan Hupka, police officer in Brno, said for Ceskatelevize.cz.
Title picture: @Brno Daily
