Rent-a-cop gains popularity in Swiss communities
Swiss villages are turning to rent-a-cop for their security needs amid a growing shortage of police officers.
Two businesses in canton Zurich are to start renting private officers in the summer to provide security for local communities too small to afford their own police force. Meanwhile, a company in canton Valais is already operating a rent-a-cop service.
Although private security firms have been providing unarmed security officers for some time, the rent-a-cop service is far more extensive, according to Werner Langenegger, a former policeman and the director of Alpha Project, a company which offers policing services.
Langenegger says rent-a-cop officers will be fully armed and obliged to take an officers’ oath.
However, questions linger over the legal status of private officers, according to local officials in Dürmten, canton Zurich, who are assessing the pros and cons of rent-a-cop. Until their status is clarified, Dürmten officials say they are likely to rent officers from a neighbouring community.
Security monopoly
Cantonal police forces have also expressed their concern about the introduction of private officers, saying the service could represent a breach of the monopoly on the use of force.
Cantonal authorities in Zurich have reacted to the proposals to draft-rent-a-cops by commissioning a working group to examine the legal obligations of private and public security forces and to provide guidelines for local authorities.
“It’s not a question of the cantonal police force wanting to dictate do’s and don’ts to local communities,” said Roland Gugger, a staff officer in Zurich’s police force.
“It’s more a question of advising them about what private security firms are allowed to do and what the federal police is obliged to do,” says Gugger.
Savings
Despite lingering uncertainty about the legal status of rent-a-cop, a private company in canton Valais says it has been operating successfully in seven communities since the mid-nineties.
Lukas Jäger, who was behind the move to privatise the force, said local authorities have made substantial savings because they were billed only for the actual hours worked by the officers.
The officers have been fully armed, said Jäger, but they were not allowed to carry out detentions and house searches.
by Hansjörg Bolliger
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.