Swiss politicians want stun guns for transport police
A police officer demonstrates a Taser X26 electroshock weapon in Geneva
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The House of Representatives wants Swiss transport police officers to be allowed to carry stun guns.
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On Monday it adopted a corresponding motion by Michaël Buffat from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party.
The decision was made by 132 votes to 60 with one abstention. The motion will now go to the Senate.
Buffat argued that many police forces had acquired such stun guns since 2008. They could also be an important tool for the transport police, for example in the event of threats with knives, especially when there are a lot of people in one place.
The government recommended that the motion be accepted. Transport Minister Albert Rösti, also from the People’s Party, made it clear that the motion was to be understood as a request for testing. Which devices are suitable for which situations and when their use is proportionate must first be clarified.
The transport police do not have the same role as the cantonal police forces, criticised Fabien Fivaz from the left-wing Green Party. It was politically desirable for them to have fewer powers, he said.
Fivaz also pointed out that Tasers were anything but a harmless weapon. Around 100 deaths have been documented following their use, many of them in the US, he said, adding that the transport police already had sufficient means at their disposal to fulfil their duties, such as firearms or pepper spray.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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