Zurich is the ‘fines capital’ of Switzerland for 2019

Zurich is budgeting on receiving 152 Swiss francs (€135) per person as a result of fines handed out by the city’s police next year.

Published: 10 December 2018 10:33 CET

Zurich is the 'fines capital' of Switzerland for 2019

Sunset in Zurich West on November 29th. Photo: AFP

That is the highest amount of any city or canton in German-speaking Switzerland, according to research carried out by Swiss weekly Schweiz am Wochenende.

The total amount budgeted for police fines in this part of the country next year is a preliminary 285,673,200 francs, or around 45 francs per person – a similar figure to 2018.

After Zurich, the second highest figure is in Baden in the canton of Aargau where preliminary budget projections have city police handing out fines totalling 113 francs per person in 2019.

This is almost twice as high as the 2017 figures with the huge increase based on the planned installation of fixed speed cameras in the canton, according to Schweiz am Wochenende.

At the bottom of the “fines” table is Solothurn, where cantonal police are budgeting for police fines of just 6 francs per person.

In Basel–Stadt, fines are expected to bring in 79 francs per person. In Schwyz, the figure is 44 francs, in St Gallen 43 francs, in Bern 39 francs and in Luzern 19 francs.

Cantonal police in Zurich are budgeting on taking in 17 francs per person in fines next year.

But the president of the Swiss police federation (VSPB), Johanna Bundi Ryser, was critical of the government budget projections.

Fines were designed to change behaviour and not give a boost to government coffers, she told Schweiz am Wochenende.

She said most police would not be influenced by the government budget projections as the number of fines handed out rarely had an impact on performance appraisals.

A Swiss appeals court confirmed Monday the acquittal of six police officers over the death of a Nigerian man, in a case that drew comparisons to George Floyd’s killing in the United States.

As with the lower court verdict a year ago acquitting the officers of negligent homicide in the case of Mike Ben Peter, Monday’s ruling sparked immediate protests and chants of “Shame!” outside the courthouse.

Around 80 people crowded outside the court, shouting: “Black lives matter!”, “Justice for Mike”, and “Police kill, the judiciary acquits!”

The 39-year-old Nigerian died following a violent arrest after he refused a police drug search in Lausanne in western Switzerland in early 2018.

In the encounter with the six police officers, he was pinned to the ground on his stomach. He died in hospital a few hours later after suffering a heart attack.

His death initially received little attention, but the global outcry over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020 placed a bigger spotlight on the Swiss case.

During the first trial in June last year, a court in Lausanne ruled that the six officers involved in the incident could not be found guilty of negligent homicide.

The public prosecutor’s office also decided to drop the charges, referring in particular to forensic analyses that were unable to state with certainty that Ben Peter died due to the police intervention.

After three days of hearings last week at the appeals court in Renens, near Lausanne, the three judges confirmed the lower court ruling, acquitting the officers of negligent homicide.

They also acquitted them on an additional charge of abusing their authority, brought by the lawyer of Ben Peter’s family, Simon Ntah.

As with during the first trial, the judges relied heavily on forensic expert testimony to reach their conclusion.

The experts testified that it was impossible to say for certain that Ben Peter died due to the police intervention.