Police Release Cartoon Advising on Safety

By The Moscow Times

July 24, 2012

The Interior Ministry posted an animated cartoon on its YouTube page Monday, advising citizens how to avoid falling victim to crimes over the vacation season.

Police warned viewers about the danger of leaving possessions unattended, gambling abroad and allowing young children to wander about on their own by showing a crook taking advantage of a family's carelessness.

"The clip is made in the style of the popular cartoon 'Just you wait!' But the main characters on this occasion are not a wolf and hare, but a happy family setting off on vacation and a criminal," police wrote in a statement on their website.

In the cartoon, the narrating pair first offers the viewer lines such as "criminals help dispel boredom" and "theft is a great excuse to redesign my house" before following up with sounder tips after the chain-smoking thief profits from the family's devil-may-care attitude.

The Interior Ministry opened its YouTube page in February 2011 and has released five clips so far. The move to upload online content is part of a wider drive to make ministries' work more accessible to citizens.

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