Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Foreigners to be allowed to join Graubünden police force

Two Graubünden police officers
No passport? No problem: canton Graubünden in eastern Switzerland will soon be recruiting police officers who do not have Swiss citizenship. Canton Graubünden

Canton Graubünden in eastern Switzerland will soon be recruiting police officers who do not have Swiss citizenship. A settlement permit (C) will be sufficient to register for the aptitude tests as an applicant for the cantonal police.

It will thus become the fifth of Switzerland’s 26 cantons – after Neuchâtel, Jura, Basel City and Schwyz – to do so.

+ A guide to Swiss work permits

The cantonal government had decided to change the recruitment procedure in order to allow the cantonal police to recruit sufficient young people, it said in a statementExternal link on Tuesday. “The high personal demands placed on police trainees remain unchanged,” it added.

The cantonal government pointed out that in order to be able to hire enough new recruits, many police forces, including in Graubünden, had adjusted or abolished various requirements such as minimum height and age in recent years.

The Graubünden cantonal police force has around 400 officers. Each year 15-25 trainees complete their training.

More

Cantonal differences

The employment of non-Swiss officers in the cantonal police force has been possible since 1996 in Basel City, the pioneer canton in this respect. Schwyz followed in 2001, Jura a year later, and Neuchâtel in 2007.

In the past ten years several other cantons, such as Vaud, Bern and Solothurn, have considered the possibility of opening their police forces to holders of a C permit, but have decided not to do so.

In canton Zurich, the city of Zurich wanted to open its police force to foreign applicants with a C permit. These applicants would then have to obtain Swiss citizenship to join the force permanently. This principle was already being in the city of Winterthur. However, the cantonal government blocked the plans of the two cities by approving a motion at the end of 2021 that said only Swiss nationals should be allowed to join the police force.

More

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war

More

Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war

This content was published on According to former United States general Ben Hodges, the withdrawal of US troops from Europe is only a matter of time. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, he advises Switzerland to prepare for war.

Read more: Former US general advises Switzerland to prepare for war
Diccon Bewes

More

Swiss-British author Diccon Bewes dead at 57

This content was published on The author of the bestseller Swiss Watching and former member of SWI swissinfo.ch's Public Council, Diccon Bewes, died on March 11 after a battle with cancer.

Read more: Swiss-British author Diccon Bewes dead at 57
Bernese anti-separatists celebrate the vote of 16 March 1975

More

Anti-separatists in Bernese Jura mark 50th anniversary of crucial vote

This content was published on Anti-separatist circles celebrated in Tramelan (BE) on Saturday the 50th anniversary of the vote of 16 March 1975 in which the population of the Bernese Jura chose to remain part of the Bernese Confederation. The theme of the jubilee was the identity of the Bernese Jura after Moutier's departure.

Read more: Anti-separatists in Bernese Jura mark 50th anniversary of crucial vote
237 Swiss companies with CO2 reduction targets

More

Over 200 Swiss firms sign up to CO2 reduction targets

This content was published on To date, 237 companies from Switzerland have joined the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), committing to CO2 reduction targets in line with the Paris Accord.

Read more: Over 200 Swiss firms sign up to CO2 reduction targets

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR