A recent social media clip posted by an American resident of Zurich suggests that police stations in Switzerland open their doors on a limited schedule. Is this actually so?
Reuben Garcia, an American comedian who has been living in Zurich for the past seven years, posted this clip to his Facebook account.
In it, he shows the opening hours of a Zurich police station – 8 am to 11:30 am from Monday to Friday – suggesting that “anyone who wants to commit a crime in this country should do it during a lunch hour.”
This is a very funny clip (and especially since Garcia hails from New York, where police never rest), but it does bring up a serious question: is it true that law enforcement in Switzerland work on a reduced schedule and, if so, how safe is the population?
‘Business’ hours
While the police station in this particular clip seems to be open only on weekday mornings, this is not the norm for Switzerland’s largest city.
A look at the operating hours of other police offices in Zurich indicates longer working schedules — though none of them are open 24/7.
For instance, a police office at the central train station (HB) opens Monday to Saturday from 7 am from 10 pm, and on Sundays from 7 am to 6 pm.
At Zurich airport, the hours are longer: daily from 5:30 am until 9:30 pm.
The situation is similar in other large Swiss cities as well.
In Geneva, police stations are keeping bankers’ hours: 9 am to 5 pm, and the situation is pretty much the same throughout Basel, with hours differing according to the office’s location, but none staying open beyond 6 pm.
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Ok, so what happens when a crime is committed outside these hours?
What Garcia didn’t mention, probably because it would spoil the clip’s comedic effect, is that police in Switzerland are rarely (if ever) summoned by knocking on the station’s door.
Typically, these stations handle administrative matters, such as receiving complaints for instance.
In cases of emergency anywhere in Switzerland, number 117 should be dialled for a prompt police response – regardless of time of day or night.
(In fact, if you look at the video closer, the schedule posted on the police building states that this number should be used in emergencies).
READ ALSO: The essential Swiss phone numbers you should never forget
So to answer the question of whether Garcia’s claim about police stations not being open 24 hours a day, seven days a week is true – it is.
But (thankfully for the population), that’s not the WHOLE truth.
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Déjà-vu
If you have been living in Switzerland (or reading about it) long enough, you may remember the fiasco that occurred in 2014, when the co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines plane hijacked his aircraft and forced it to land in Geneva so he could seek asylum.
No Swiss fighter jets scrambled to escort the plane as the hijacking happened in the early morning hours, before the Air Force had opened up for the day.
Italian and French jets took charge instead.
As a way of explanation, the Defence Department pointed out that “Switzerland could not intervene because its airbases are closed at night and on weekends.”
But do not worry: this embarrassing incident, which made news globally at the time, incited Switzerland to start policing its air space 24/7.
