Northern Switzerland Basel cantonal police force gets interim commander in Würgler
Thomas Würgler has been appointed interim commander of the Basel-Stadt cantonal police force, which is currently in crisis. The Basel government has appointed the 69-year-old as interim police commander, as announced on Thursday.
15.08.2024, 11:30
SDA
The former commander of the Zurich cantonal police will take up his post on September 9 and will remain in place until a new police commander has been appointed.
According to the press release, the advertisement for the new commander will only be published once Würgler has gained a "personal overview" and defined possible models for the future management structure of the cantonal police together with department head Stephanie Eymann (LDP).
Thanks to his experience as a public prosecutor, lawyer and as a police and military officer, the 69-year-old lawyer has the best qualifications to quickly take on the role of commander, it continues. His mission is to stabilize the corps and initiate the transformation process.
Würgler was commander of the Zurich cantonal police from 2009 to 2020. "Onlinereports" had previously reported on Würgler's appointment.
Personnel consequences
The report published on June 21 by Basel administrative law expert Markus Schefer had revealed a great deal of misery in the Basel police force. Many of the police officers surveyed complained of a "culture of fear", a lack of trust in the leadership, overwork and racist and sexist incidents.
As a first measure, Eymann dismissed police commander Martin Roth. In addition, three other members left the police management.
