First female appointed head of cantonal police force
A woman has been appointed as head of a cantonal police force in Switzerland for the first time.
Barbara Ludwig took charge of the police force in canton Schwyz on January 1st.
Ludwig, who until the end of the year was the director of prisons in canton Zurich, was selected at the end of 2001 to replace the interim head of the regional police force, Beat Eberle.
Correspondents say Ludwig’s task of directing police operations in the canton is likely to be a challenging one: the 43-year-old from canton Graubünden will be the fourth regional police director in Schwyz in six years.
Prior to her appointment in 1999 as director of prisons in canton Zurich, Ludwig was in charge of the prison at the city’s airport and was also responsible for the coordination of drug-related issues in the canton.
Ludwig is also well-known for her work in the spheres of refugee and asylum policy.
swissinfo with agencies
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.