The High Cost of Ignoring Reality: Solothurn Scrambles to Staff Its Police

Switzerland frequently projects an image of tranquil prosperity, a wealthy nation quietly enjoying its alpine isolation, excellent education, and remarkably modest corruption. Yet beneath this comfortable veneer, the state apparatus occasionally struggles to keep pace with reality. The canton of Solothurn offers a textbook example of political inertia colliding with rising crime rates. For years, the local legislature managed a growing security problem through sheer denial, leaving its police force hopelessly overstretched. Now, confronted with undeniable statistics, the cantonal executive is forced into a costly scramble to hire 100 new officers by 2035.

The price tag for this delayed realisation will run into a low double-digit million sum over the next three years alone. Landammann Susanne Schaffner presented the expansion of the 600-strong force to 700 officers as a vital investment in the region's economic attractiveness and general quality of life. The aim is to increase visible patrols and target structural crime. The politicians did not want to acknowledge the problem, but now the public perceives that crime is rising, Schaffner told the press, noting that her previous attempts to secure adequate law enforcement resources were promptly dismissed by the parliament.

This sudden awakening was triggered by a document thoroughly titled "Sicherheitsbericht 26+". Prompted by a parliamentary motion to review law enforcement structures, the report laid bare a severe mathematical mismatch. Solothurn currently manages the third-highest crime burden in Switzerland using the fourth-lowest police density. Consequently, the canton suffers the highest administrative caseload per individual officer in the entire country. The existing force is drowning in paperwork, effectively tethered to their desks instead of patrolling the streets.

The Swiss Police Officers Association views the expansion as a necessary, if overdue, correction of a naive budgeting strategy. Emmanuel Fivaz, the association's president, pointed out that the mounting administrative workload heavily restricts the force's ability to conduct preventative work. While optimal police numbers depend on various factors like urbanisation and the presence of international hubs, Fivaz is clear that Solothurn simply lacks the personnel to function properly.

The grand ambition behind Solothurn's financial injection is distinctly modest: it merely wishes to reach the Swiss average. Police density across the country remains highly fragmented, reflecting the decentralised nature of the Swiss state. While the southern canton of Ticino boasts over 300 officers per 100,000 residents, neighbouring Aargau operates with fewer than 140. Solothurn is not alone in its belated recruitment drive, as cantons like Bern, Thurgau, and Ticino have already expanded their forces, with Basel-Country and St. Gallen preparing to follow suit. The Swiss state system generally works well, provided politicians actually fund the personnel required to maintain it.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com