P is for Polizei

police prepare for May 1st demonstrations 2014

Cantonal police in Switzerland are meant to be run completely independently of one another (so sayeth the constitution.) But in 2015, there is debate about which issues should be handled  on the cantonal and which should be handled on the federal level. I personally don't see why they'd want to take tasks away from Zürich police officers, as according to Zürich's own reggae star Phenomden, they have nothing to do ("Polizisten gehen im Zürich nie Ruhe. Polizisten haben im Zürich nicht zu tun. .")

But seriously, the cantons are so diverse, that it makes sense that the cantons should organize their own law enforcement. Zürich is the largest metropolis in the country and has it's banks, it's drug problems, it's soccer hooligans, it's public transport. But not so far canton Uri (the canton with my favourite flag) has no soccer team, has no drug problems, no organized prostitution but miles of highway. Clearly, their needs are different and their police force are different. That said, their finances are also different. So making blanket federal decisions for all cantons doesn't make sense. 

I mean look at this flag!!!

Another aspect of the police in 2015 is the reason my husband keeps asking me if I shouldn't join the force: increased diversity. I'm as white as most of the police force, but the diversity they're after are polyglots and immigrants. I support their desire to be more inclusive. The most meaningful interaction I've ever had with the swiss police was on a tram. Two officers boarded and arrested a man who kept repeating (in English) that he didn't know what was happening and he didn't speak Swiss German. I stuck my nose in and said that I'm a translator and asked if I could interpret for them. The police forcefully refused and so I spent the next hour on the phone to the headquarters, where I received no satisfactory answer to why I wasn't allowed to intervene. Except for the fact that it was not my business.