Law enforcement in Switzerland is mainly a responsibility of the 26

cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...

, who each operate

cantonal police The cantonal police (french: Police cantonale, german: Kantonspolizei, it, Polizia cantonale, rm, Polizia chantunala) are the law enforcement agencies for each of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. Law enforcement in Switzerland is mainly a respon ...

agencies. Some cities also operate municipal police agencies as provided for by cantonal law. The federal government provides specialised services and is responsible for the protection of the Swiss border. Throughout Switzerland, the police may be reached by the

emergency telephone number Most public switched telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number (sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or the emergency services number) that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assis ...

1-1-7.

Requirements

The requirements to be an officer in Switzerland vary by canton, whose responsibility it is to institute the police service, some of the requirements include a complete high school education or 3 year vocational education, aged approximately 20–30 years of age, absence of a criminal record, completion of military service, a minimum height requirement, a Category B driver's licence, computer and keyboard literacy, foreign language skills, proper health and ocular health status, and Swiss citizenship.

Law enforcement agencies

Federal

The federal government does not run a general purpose law enforcement agency. National-level law enforcement coordination is provided by a board of cantonal police commanders. The

Federal Office of Police The Federal Office of Police (Fedpol, german: Bundesamt für Polizei, french: Office fédéral de la police, it, Ufficio federale di polizia, rm, Uffizi federal da polizia) of Switzerland is subject to the Federal Department of Justice and P ...

, an organisation belonging to the

Federal Department of Justice and Police The Federal Department of Justice and Police (german: Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement, french: Département fédéral de justice et police, it, Dipartimento federale di giustizia e polizia, rm, ) is one of the seven departmen ...

, coordinates international operations and may request cantonal police support for criminal investigations conducted under federal jurisdiction (such as with respect to

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

, money laundering and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

). The Office's investigative arm is the Federal Criminal Police, which operates a small special operations unit, Task Force TIGRIS, whose existence was not made public until 2009. The

Federal Department of Finance The Federal Department of Finance (FDF, german: Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement, links=no, french: Département fédéral des finances, links=no, it, Dipartimento federale delle finanze, links=no, rm, ) is one of the seven departments of ...

is responsible for the Swiss

Border Guard Corps The Swiss Border Guard (french: Corps des gardes-frontière, german: Grenzwachtkorps, it, Corpo delle guardie di confine, rm, Corp da guardias da cunfin) was a federal law enforcement agency, which acted as both the border guard and customs s ...

. The

military of Switzerland The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, re ...

, led by the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, operates a professional military security service and a

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

service. These services, as well as the armed forces in general, can be tasked to support the cantonal police forces in situations where civilian police resources are insufficient, such as catastrophes or large-scale unrest. In this case, the military serves under cantonal civilian responsibility and command. An actual Swiss Railway Police did not exist until the late 1990s. Prior to this, a number of train attendants were sworn in, equipped with a sidearm and ordered to provide security services in addition to their main duties. In the early 1990s, internal employees were recruited into a security force called ''Bahnpolizei (Bapo)'' or Railway Police, responsible for the safety on the

S-Bahn The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

, the public suburban railway network in Zurich. Its officers were equipped with a baton and a pepper spray but were not allowed to carry a firearm and had very limited authority. In the meantime, the Swiss Federal Railways ''SBB'' and Securitas AG established the Public Transport Security Services Securitrans AG, where the ''Bapo'' was subsequently embedded in. With the passage of the Federal Act on the Security Units of Public Transport Companies in 2010, the Railway Police returned under SBB’s umbrella and was renamed to Transport Police for legal reasons. In 2012, the Ordinance on the Security Units of Public Transport Companies was issued that extended the Transport Police's authority and allowed its officers to carry a sidearm. Today, the Transport Police and Securitrans coexist with different fields of duty.

Cantonal

The 26

agencies and numerous

municipal police Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...

agencies are the backbone of Swiss law enforcement. They are not subordinate to federal authorities. Their commanding officers report to the head of the respective cantonal or municipal department of police, who is a member of the cantonal or municipal governing council. Police training is conducted in cantonal service academies and at the Interkantonale Polizeischule Hitzkirch, a joint police academy of twelve police agencies established in 2007.

Private

Several private security services such as Securitas AG and Protectas exist in Switzerland. Their agents (except those of the railway police service as noted above) do not have any law enforcement authority, such as the

power of arrest The power of arrest is a mandate given by a central authority that allows an individual to remove a criminal's (or suspected criminal's) liberty. The power of arrest can also be used to protect a person, or persons from harm or to protect damage t ...

, beyond that of ordinary citizens.

Prisons

Switzerland has 124 detention facilities with a total capacity of up to 6,736 detainees, all operated by the Swiss cantons. The smallest prison is the ''Untersuchungsgefängnis Trogen'' with a capacity of two detainees.

Notes and references

External links

Swiss Police portal
{{Authority control National Central Bureaus of Interpol