Swiss face up to challenges of city crime

City police find that they are often powerless to act against the rise of inner city crime Keystone

The rise in inner city crime, disaffected youth and a lack of funds are just some of the challenges facing Switzerland’s city police forces.

At a meeting in Zurich, police chiefs have been calling for their powers to be strengthened to help combat the problem.

Over 80 people attended the meeting entitled “Urban Security in the 21st Century”, which was called by the Conference of City Police Directors – the city police umbrella group.

“In fact, there is no such thing as city crime in particular, apart from vandalism in trams,” said Esther Maurer, head of Zurich city police and president of the Conference of City Police Directors, referring to the complexity of the problems facing urban crime squads.

This is one of the main reasons why city police bosses want cities – not cantons – to maintain control over their police forces.

Wrong direction

Several cantons have already come out in favour of integrating city police into a wider cantonal force.

“These reforms are definitely going in the wrong direction,” warned Hans Hollenstein, head of police for Winterthur, a city near Zurich.

Many city police chiefs feel that only their forces have the specialised knowledge to police Swiss cities effectively.

But other delegates called for the police to cooperate with other services.

“We have to introduce new ways of collaborating between the emergency services in order to respond to the needs of contemporary society,” said Kuno Schedler, professor of economics at St Gallen University.

“The main challenge will be how set up a clearly established control centre,” he added.

Crime rate rise

One of the major challenges facing city police forces is the increase in urban crime.

“The number of crimes committed in Switzerland has risen on average by 0.3 per cent each year,” said Maurer.

Maurer said that although the rate may appear to be stable, the increase in crime over the past two years had been far more marked at 6.5 per cent and nine per cent.

But Switzerland still has a relatively low crime rate compared to its neighbours and it also varies from region to region.

According to Lausanne University criminologist, Martin Killias, the most important change over the past few decades is in how crime is concentrating in certain neighbourhoods.

The criminologist said this is exacerbated by social and ethnic factors and is particularly prevalent among young people.

Lack of funding

Although opposed to any sort of zero tolerance policy because it infringes certain civil liberties, Killias favours clamping down on crime.

“Clamping down is necessary, but it should not be the only strategy,” explained Killias.

“Prevention is efficient it is carried out by local police officers, who are not afraid to get involved and be visible,” he said.

But Killias says that new rules and regulations can only be imposed if there is more funding – a sentiment echoed by other delegates.

“Whole areas of cities should not be allowed to fall into slums,” said Hans Martin Tschudi, director of the canton of Basel City’s Justice Department.

“For this you need the required resources and the right policies,” he added.

swissinfo, Ariane Grigon Bormann in Zurich (translation: Isobel Johnson)

In brief

Each canton is responsible for its own police force and each city has its own separate police department.

There is also some policing in smaller communities.

Some elements of crime policy are the responsibility of the government.