Disparities between cantons regarding the ‘Amok’ attack prevention plan

When an individual is violent or out of control on school premises in Switzerland, as happened recently in Cortaillod, in canton Neuchâtel, the "Amok" plan is triggered to bring the pupils to safety.

© Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

But the level of anticipation and preparation varies between cantons.

Ten days ago in Cortaillod, in canton Neuchâtel, the school attack prevention protocol known as “Amok” enabled pupils to be quickly brought to safety. This happened after an individual had broken into a local primary school and made “threatening” remarks. The first two police patrols arrived on the scene barely seven minutes after the first call was made to authorities by a teacher.

This incident is not the first such incident to take place in Switzerland, usually known for its peaceful and withdraw character. Last October, a large police force police were deployed to the area by a vocational school in Carouge, in canton Geneva. The alarm signalled the presence of a threatening intruder on the school premises. But after a thorough search of the building, the police concluded that it was a false alarm.

The oldest ‘Amok’ alarms in cantons Geneva and Bern

Although each of these events came to a peaceful conclusion, usually as a result of false alarms, they are an undeniable reminder of the importance of having such a system in place to avoid tragedy. “Amok” plans have been in place in French-speaking Switzerland for several years, but without coordination between the other Swiss cantons.

Derived from the Malay word “amuk”, the term “Amok” means uncontrollable murderous rage. In Indonesian, Malaysian and Filipino culture, it refers to a publicly humiliated individual who, to salvage his bruised pride, embarks on a mass killing spree.

The state of anticipation and preparation for the “Amok” plan can therefore vary widely from canton to canton. The cantonal ministers responsible for security met last week to take stock of the security measures together with the “Amok” protocol.

The oldest “Amok” alarms are found in schools in the cantons Geneva and Bern. In Geneva, the details of the system and the instructions to be followed have been sent to schools every year for the past fifteen years. It was introduced following the Columbine shootings in the United States in 1999, when two students killed twelve of their classmates and a teacher.

Canton Neuchâtel, on the other hand, has only been providing safety and security training for teachers since 2016. New sessions have been planned for 2024 for newly hired employees and those who want a refresher course.

But not all cantons are at the same level and it also depends on the school annual educational calendars. While teachers in upper secondary and post-compulsory education are fairly well informed, and even trained, in cantons Vaud, Fribourg, Valais and Jura, there are gaps in the system in place for compulsory educational levels.

“Amok” unknown in some school

In the aftermath of the incident at the primary school in Cortaillod, several media outlets revealed that the “Amok” system was unknown to several school principals in canton Jura and no similar system or training was provided to their schools.

However, documented instructions for the “Amok” protocol have been set out to schools in canton Jura for around ten years. This shows the importance of regularly reminding principals of the procedure to follow, as the Minister for Education, Martial Courtet, pointed out when questioned on the subject in the Jura Parliament.

“Some schools may have felt less concerned, but current events remind us that all schools are affected. So we’re taking this very seriously He continued: “The Education Department and the Post-Compulsory Education Department have written to school principals to remind them. If they haven’t already done so, they are asking them to organise a presentation and discussion on ‘Amok’ with teachers by the end of the next term.”

In canton Vaud, there are already plans to bridge the gap from schools who are unaware of the protocol or have not maintained regular trainings. A training course for compulsory schools will start in January and run until June. And following what happened in Cortaillod, Valais is considering it necessary to reassess the security situation in its schools with the authorities.