Criticism of the police - Basel police commander released after complaints
Due to complaints about a "culture of fear" in the Basel Police Corps, its commander, Martin Roth, has been temporarily relieved of duty. The trust in the entire police leadership was damaged, explained Security Director Stephanie Eymann on Friday.
This followed a report of great dissatisfaction among police officers and policewomen. Roth himself had commissioned the report to determine why so many colleagues had resigned and it was so difficult to fill the vacancies. Nearly ten percent of the positions are vacant.
The interviewees stated in the record that there was a lack of trust in leadership, disrespect, overload, and problems in dealing with racist and sexist incidents. The police corps is therefore confronted with a general suspicion, said Eymann. "It's important that we have a zero-tolerance policy in this area - it can't be that individual persons can destroy the reputation of the police."
Communication Department Security Services
Martin Roth, the commander of the Basel Police Corps who was temporarily removed from duty due to concern over a "culture of fear," has a background in public service, having served in Swiss law enforcement for several years. In response to a complaint about the situation, Roth initiated an investigation to understand why many officers were leaving the force and the difficulty in filling vacancies, with nearly ten percent of positions remaining empty. The report uncovered issues of distrust in leadership, disrespect, overload, and challenges in handling racist and sexist incidents, contributing to a general suspicion towards the police corps in Basel, Switzerland.
