Communal and municipal police
Besides the cantonal police, communal and municipal police corps are also an important part of the overall police structure of Switzerland. Communal police corps exist particularly in cantons that are widely fragmented geographically ‒ such as Valais or Graubünden ‒ or whose communes have traditionally enjoyed a high level of autonomy. Some cantons, on the other hand, do not have communal police corps.
The police corps of the cities of Zurich and Lausanne are not only responsible for public law and order but they also assume criminal police tasks. There are a total of 300 communal police corps, some of which are consolidated in the Swiss Association of Municipal Police Chiefs.
In some cantons such as Bern there is a move to integrate municipal police corps, either wholly or partially, into the cantonal police force (so-called unitary police). In some places, communal police stations are being replaced by unitary police units made up of mobile and flexible action forces.
Last modification 09.06.2015