Northern Switzerland Report reveals considerable problems in the Basel police force

Restlessness, a culture of fear, a lack of trust in management and inadequate measures in connection with sexism and racism. These are just some of the criticisms voiced by members of some units of the Basel-Stadt cantonal police, as a report published on Friday shows.

"There is a simmering atmosphere among the staff", the head of the survey, constitutional and administrative law expert Markus Schefer from the University of Basel, told the media. The atmosphere is characterized by "tiring actionism", a lack of appreciation and a "rumour mill running at full speed".

In general, a cultural change is needed at the Kapo, said Schefer.

Little acceptance of police management

A number of critical comments were made about the leadership during the interviews. "Several people said that the police commander was no longer taken seriously", the report states. He is not perceived as a person of respect, but more as a comrade. In addition, the management is not seen as a functioning collegiate body, it continues.

Some also criticize the fact that only one member of the management team has completed basic police training and has worked in the field. This contributes to "considerable acceptance problems" of the police management in large parts of the Kapo, particularly in operational tasks, as the report states. However, many police officers see the support from the head of the department, Stephanie Eymann (LDP), as particularly positive.

"Crude treatment of women"

In the interviews, police officers also mention incidents of racism and sexism. There were reports of incidents that went beyond the legally permissible framework, said Schefer. However, there is often contradictory information about some incidents.

However, the culture is still "male-dominated" and there is a "crude treatment" of women in the corps, said Schefer. The female police officers surveyed criticized the fact that they could only turn to their superiors in the event of derogatory behaviour towards them, which posed a considerable risk for those affected, according to the report.

Structures must be created to punish such transgressions, said Claudia Puglisi, Chief Police Director of Lower Saxony. This must be institutionalized with contact persons, for example. Puglisi carried out the investigation together with Schefer and lawyer Anja Fankhauser.

Racism must be tackled structurally

More emphasis must also be placed on dealing with racism. These problems should not be reduced to a moral deficit of individual members of the corps, but must be tackled structurally, said Schefer. For example, the environment of some violent young men from the Maghreb is particularly suitable for creating stereotypes. A rotation principle, for example, would be needed in response to this, meaning that individual employees would not have to work in this environment for years.

The field service is particularly affected by the increased workload. Many police officers there complained about the inability to plan their free time, as they also have to be called up for additional duties on weekends that are actually free - for example at football matches or demonstrations, as the report goes on to say. The management's decision that there should be at least ten freely plannable weekends per year could not be implemented.

Some police officers also complain about inadequate pay, according to the survey. However, they have to measure themselves against corps in a comparable urban and not rural environment. Respondents also expressed shortcomings in the purchase of equipment, such as protective vests with an expired service life and the purchase of Tesla vehicles.

372 people took part in the survey

In the confidential interviews, the police officers also said that disrespectful behavior in public and violence towards uniformed officers had increased.

As an external observer from Germany, Puglisi noted that the city of Basel, with its location in the border triangle and the high density of major events, poses a major challenge. The values that the police should represent in her eyes are justice, reliability and respect. "If these values are trampled underfoot internally, it does something to the people who have to represent these values externally," said Puglisi.

Schefer conducted the survey on behalf of police commander Martin Roth. The aim was to investigate the causes of the wave of redundancies and the staff shortage in the corps. Schefer conducted confidential voluntary interviews. 372 people took part. Of these, around 320 were members of the cantonal police force, i.e. a third of the more than 1000 employees. The remaining interviewees were former police officers and members of other administrative units.