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“Anyone who wants to enter Aarau station through the main entrance has to go through an unmasked and lively crowd, mostly young people, who don’t seem to want to get on the train.” – Here’s what VCS Green Advisor and Managing Director Christian Keller wrote on Twitter Thursday and posted the corresponding photo (see right). He’s not at all fond of rayon bans, but these days he would understand such measures.
The head of the Department of Health and Social Affairs also noticed the crowd. “Every day in Aarau I see many young people at Bahnhofplatz who obviously don’t care about anything. They didn’t get it, ”government councilor Jean-Pierre Gallati said recently in an AZ interview.
Aarau city councilor Suzanne Marclay-Merz, head of the security department and therefore head of the city police, wrote in said discussion on Twitter that “such scenes must not exist at this time.” The police of the city and the canton cannot be “always and everywhere in the place, and only have to make a“ correct report ”. “Twitter does not work to alert,” he wrote.
Ms. Marclay, are the city police responsible for maintaining order immediately upon leaving the station?
Suzanne Marclay: The municipal police of the city of Aarau and of our contracting municipalities are responsible for maintaining peace, order and security. We have the support of the cantonal police and, on the SBB site, also the transport police. So yes, the municipal police are responsible.
What do the city police do with the masked crowds?
City police employees must appear kind, correct, and determined to the population. In the case of obvious complaints, you have to react and talk to the people concerned. In particular, reference should be made to the applicable Covid-19 measures: non-group formation, distance specifications and the use of protective masks. When necessary, people are asked to reduce the concentration of people, dissolve them and put on protective masks.
It’s enough?
The measures imposed by the Federal Council in Switzerland to contain Covid-19 explicitly aim at personal responsibility and solidarity among the population. The Federal Council deliberately did not create any legal basis that would allow a criminal sanction for violations of the Covid-19 measures. This means that fines cannot be used to combat rule violations. Of course, this situation also poses a challenge for the city police. On the one hand, according to current Covid-19 regulations, the health of the Swiss population must be protected. On the other hand, there is a lack of effective measures in case of violations of the rules.
You wrote on Twitter that patrols might not be everywhere. A rush hour gathering of people at the train station cannot be a surprise. Also, the city police have their office right across the street. Why was no one there?
The city police usually work twenty-four hours a day with two double patrols, also at the mentioned time. As far as I know, no reports have been received on the aforementioned accumulation. At the specific time, the patrols were on the move due to other orders. Permanent surveillance of the station by the city police is simply not realistic for resource reasons.
“A correct report would help,” they wrote on Twitter. But surely you can’t call 117 about that with a clear conscience?
The city police are available 24 hours a day. In case of emergency through number 117, otherwise through the police station. When you call the emergency number, the cantonal emergency center performs triage and prioritization. If a citizen feels threatened by a situation and wants the police to intervene, they can be alerted. A call to the police via Twitter, on the other hand, still doesn’t bring the police to the scene.