The sense of proximity is a plate of pasta with sauce. It is the ability to cross the line between duty and empathy. It is not taught in school: you have it or you don’t. And before the tears of Maria Grazia, who was trembling with despair, the policemen Chiara and Marcello, from the Santa Viola police station in Bologna, demonstrated that they have within them that drive towards others, which always makes the difference, even more so when wears a uniform.
Maria Grazia, 82 years old, was alone at home on Wednesday morning. A stranger showed up at her door, in the Zaragoza neighborhood. Dressed as a technician, he qualified himself as an employee sent by the condominium administrator. The lady trusted me. She let him in. And she believed him too when, arguing as only scammers know how to do to confuse the victims, she asked her to take out all the gold she had in the house, because she had to check it as she “risked exploding “.
A lie, of course, but Maria Grazia wanted to trust me. And she put jewels and memories of a lifetime (worth 40 thousand euros) in a small bag, which she placed on the bed. He continued to babble, saying that he would come by the next day to check on the condition of the gold. Instead, after confusing and distracting the lady again, he took the precious bag and left. Left alone in the house, moment after moment, Maria Grazia became aware of having fallen into a trap. She of having been robbed not only materially, but also of trust towards others. She found the strength to call the police, but then she collapsed. In her account given to the officers who arrived at her home, she stopped several times due to the crying that choked the word in her throat. Unable to bear that shame, but also her loneliness.
For the policemen at the Santa Viola police station, two boys aged 30 and 24, that pain did not go unnoticed. And they couldn’t remain indifferent when they saw the disoriented woman, for a moment as if she were incapable of returning to her normal routine. It was almost lunch time and so Marcello started cooking. He improvised a tomato sauce and cooked spaghetti. And, once the pasta was ready, he prepared the dish for Maria Grazia. The policemen and the victim of the scam then sat down to have lunch together. Talking about this and that, forgetting roles and the fact that up until half an hour before, they had been strangers. Together, Marcello and Maria Grazia also toasted the policewoman Chiara, who has her birthday today. A moment with family, to forget a bad moment. That too is the role of the police. Beyond investigations, beyond controls, beyond the repression of crimes. “Always be there.”
