The police in Geneva are a bit too helpful in my experience. They respond very fast to emergencies and are there to help till the end. and they have all these organisations that are amazing like LAVI. I totally feel safe.

Just a note:  LAVI -- L'Aide de Victimes d'Infraction -- is not part of the police.  They are a separate association that was formed years ago.  The association is funded -- at least in part-- by the state of Geneva.  I agree, LAVI's staff are fantastic and extremely competent.

I am happy the police have helped you but that has not been the experience of some women, including one I helped who was threatened with bodily harm by her live-in boyfriend.  He was only finally arrested and jailed only after he punched her in the face.

That is also true. actually I had replied longer but then i deleted thought it was too negative. they respond well when its very serious but if its not esp domestic violence thy usually say there is nothing they can do if there is no evidence. so what do they expect you to do, fabricate evidence? I know someone also who was not helped till she was in a very desperate situation and what is worrying is that it might sometimes be too late.  But when they help they really help.

In this thread people discuss a bit their perception/experience of crime here:

http://www.glocals.com/#/forums/general/lol----33375.htm%23msg_33873

Jonction is fully packed with drog dealers who are near to Usine and standing by the river every night. They moved from Paquis when the squad was established there.

There are burglars mainly on public transport, Paquis, Gare Cornavin, Pont de Mont Blanc....taking the purse of mainly tourist looking people....

I agree that the police reacts quite well to violence against women and they do handle the cases in a way to protect the women. I heard that they have 8-10 calls per night of such a nature.

Since Schengen, and due to the tram construction, in many places household theft is happenning more frequently than before. This is really severe and I would prefer to have the guards back at the border between France and Switzerland. Due to security reasons, it should be possible even under the Schengen treaty.

I do not say that French people are the ones but basically anybody can come without being checked and it eventually resulted in Geneva being a less safe place.

Simon, It is true that Police come very fast when we call them but I think that security in the streets is going down in Geneva, specially the nights, nowadays we see many strange people in the streets!.

Some adolescents generally they meet outside late hours, drinking, screaming, consuming drogues and fighting in the streets. Sometimes disturbing the citizens that pass near them, this I observed in some neighbourhood such a Servette, Charmille, etc. and these areas are not much controlled by Police. Permitting this kind of manifestations is potentially making grow the criminality in the city of Geneva.

I also remarked more and  more bizarre individuals that seem to be drug dealers near the Gare Cornavin, Paquis, Molard, Pont de Mont blanc, Rue de Stand (Jonction),  this could be fixed if the Police would walk these areas every day, specially the nights, but they do not do it!

Moreover I had 2 or 3 times bad experiences with pick-pockets in Geneva in front the lake, one of these incidents was in the night around 23h00, I was going to take my car and suddenly some guys asked me for a cigarette (near hotel Beaurivage) after making the favour these guys tried to stole my wallet in front my friends. Incredible!

Sincerely I don’t think Police campaign Figaro is working.

Herbert

Yes, I don't seem to see police when they're needed. There're plenty of scammers working tourists and curious near lake every day. They are so easy to spot - they work in groups of 6-10 - 2 "dealer" guys, several "spotters", and a few guys and gals who pretend to play and win (very loud and obnoxious). If I see it - they should see it.

i just want to add something about Jonction.. I almost grew up in this quarter and in the past it was quiet and safer quartier (many old people) then i saw it change with years and now i feel less safe here !

In general police come or act when you called i unfortunately did the experience many times because of a psychopathic ex.

It's enough to pass next to the Gare Cornavin on evening weekends to see the crowds there- it looks like a horror film, totally unreal.
No such view was ever even imaginable in Geneva before the Schengen agreements.

Kind of surreal to read all the negative serious news here, just after reading how tough the police are on the crime of speeding perpetrated by all these dodgy expats (see other current topic). Also seriously, I have heard very negative things from people who have lived here a bit longer than we have: street fights, burglaries, muggings - not the sort of thing you would expect in Geneva. That said, so far (touch wood) I've not felt unsafe yet, after one year of living here.

Yesterday evening somebody shot on my car while it was parked in the city center. One window destroyed. At the 117 line the guy got very unfriendly when I asked him if he speaks English or German. Of course not. I have to drive to the police station at Rue Berne then.They did not want to come and have a look. Then at the police station they complained that they are hungry and want to go for dinner. My friend was able to persuade them to write a report. They wrote a standard report saying "dommages a la propriete" and that was it. They were not at all interested.

Police in Geneva are 110% useless! Our apartment was badly robbed, the "emergency" line did not work, when we did get through to the police, they gave us another number where nobody answered... no police station closer than the one on Rue Berne, so had to go all the way there, they gave me a business card with a number to call - useless - then finally they made an internal call for me (whilst making a huge deal about it) someone took my address and a sort of "forensic" csi guy showed up about 4 hours later had a quick look and that was that! So all in all, an absolute waste of space!

Forgot to mention that I know more people in Gva who have been robbed than any other city I have lived in...having experienced equally terrible police service... and after having lived around the world (in coutnries where people may expect such unfortunate experiences) and not having been robbed before, I was surprised to experience that here! On the other hand, I do feel relatively safe walking home alone late at night, which has not been the case elsewhere.

I haven't had any personal experience with the police yet, but from what I can see they are reactionary.  If you call them, they are there quite fast.  But I have seen little evidence of any kind of effort to crack down on the drug dealing in Paquis, the tourist scammers around downtown and some of the regular spots troublemakers frequent (a small park near Servette tram stop always has sketchy guys making noise, drinking, fighting and I have never seen a cop there once).

I rarely see the police patroling Paquis at night, which I find odd since you have people openly dealing drugs on a regular basis.  If I lived in Paquis I would complain everyday.  I'm on Servette and the worst we have are some loud teens most of the time, so I'm lucky. 

I never felt unsafe in my hometown Toronto.  I am always uneasy about walking after dark in Geneva. And I also worry about break and enters as they are quite frequent.

So, I would give Geneva police a poor rating.  Mostly because they don't seem to be very proactive. 

I have not had any problem personally but what heard was that if you don't speak French you will be ignored, and they wont help you, you will be discriminated .

I see the drug dealers and the small team with three small boxes doing some dodgy game and stealing people money( they a big gang as you look around )

definitely they need to deploy more undercover officers in the city to stop these kind things.

I personally have not experienced anything close to resembling helpful from the police in Geneva and especially at the station on rue de Berne.  I have lived in the Paquis for the last four years and have seen a serious and disturbing decline in safety. 

As many people have already commented, there is open bag snatching, drug dealing, shell game con artists, and general harrassing going on all the time.  It's obvious to citizens so I get the impression they don't care.   I've personally help stop a bag thief in Cornavin and never got assistance.  I've been pick pocketed and when reporting it to rue de Berne station found no one could help me because I only spoke English.  How can this be in a tourists area in a city who is known because of their international importance in the world?!  Also, I once called the 117 number and got an answering machine! 

I've lived in major cities like London and Chicago and have never seen this kind of open petty crime in the center.  I feel less safe walking around my neighborhood because I feel there is no police presence on the street at night.  I have even seen the rue de Berne station tagged with graffiti on the front.  This does not give any confidence to the citizens if the police can't even keep the station from being tagged.  Anyway, I could list many other things but I'm sure you get the idea. I was happy to see they at least sent a survey out to get an idea of how expats feel.  I also saw that the head of police announced they will have 15 officers by January 2011, around the station who will be able to converse in English. 

I've witnessed a few situations where the police literally did not do anything regarding expats experiencing trouble or violence.

We were a group of about 20-30 people celebrating graduation. At the point of entry of the club Palais Mascot in Pacquis the guards were so rude. A friend of mine started screaming at them. The guard literally took her by the hair and then kicked her out, punching her in the face. Scandalous! We called the police. When they arrived instead of investigating the case, they started laughing at us TOGETHER with the violent bouncers, and said that this is Geneva and we have to speak French to them. They were obviously buddies with the bouncers. So they didn't do anything in a case of violence with 20+ witnesses.

It's known also that Pacquis is a hub for human trafficking and forced prostitution. It's a public secret that the police in Pacquis is corrupt -- how can you explain that in the above case the police takes sides with the popular stripclub/disco in the face of physical violence against a young foreign woman.

I think this takes the criticism further. It is one thing that there are drug dealers, pick pockets, etc. on the streets -- this will happen and the police cannot be held accountable for each and every event of crime. However, the test is whether called upon, the police is proactive or on the contrary, they are laughing in your face, together with the perpetrators.

I am sure you also know the street game with the ball and three boxes. There are many gangs practicing this fraud on the streets of Geneva and they can get pretty violent as well. If ordinary people can easily spot the fraud and the ones in the gang, any below average cop should be able to go and bust them. When I say that, do you know what I hear? Yes, but the police posted their photos as a warning. This is an illicit street activity -- they have all the right to go, bust the gang, and arrest those criminals. I have seen it happen with homeless individuals. The police should really focus on the more grave crimes.

As a counter-example, I know of a situation when a woman ordered a salad. When brought the salad by the waiter, she saw that the dish didn't correspond to the size that she ordered. She refused to pay for the salad and returned it. The waiter called the police and they did come in this case to 'restore justice'. The police is always there for noise violation as well.

To sum up, the police is really not acting as a police -- not addressing cases of violence and fraud but always there to 'enforce the salad'.

Well, I could go on chapter and verse about the problems of Geneva police but will keep this to a minimum.

On noise -- they won't do anything if you live in the Old Town except if you live on Rue des Granges.  They will only take action if a person insults another police officer or if there is a burglary of a business.

Geneva police have been cited for human rights violations on various occasions.  Nothing ever happens.

"Enforce the salad," is exactly the right description...

Must say that I have never felt unsafe in Geneva. As was mentioned here, I can walk home safely alone during the middle of the night. 

However, even if I have never had anything to do with the police in Geneva, I've heard plenty of stories about their male-chauvinism and covert racism. And the fact that they don't speak English is just ridiculous. 

Had an unsafe experience once(in 3 years) in on of the parks around the lake, but was able to walk away without trouble. For the rest never had any problem. Have spoken to the police twice, both times nobody available that spoke English nor German which in my opinion is unaccaptable in such an international city. I think it's strange though that they don't speak German in a country where 70/75% of the people speak this language. Same as in Belgium, where the French speakers can't be bothered to learn Dutch.

Never the less, I do believe if we live here, we need to adjust and learn French. Will give you a feeling of pride even with the smallest things. I only just manage to get by, but I do find the Suisse very helpfull in making you understand, without making you feel stupid. I have other experiences in France which is also the main reason why I will never move there. I prefer to feel welcome instead of a lower monthly rent.

Now back on topic ; )

Dear all,

Thanks to everyone for their feedback and help with this topic which continues to run and run. Owing to time constraints it was not possible to use a lot of your comments but I hope the article reflected the reality on the ground and I'm sure the subject will be revisited again soon.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Geneva_expats_worry_about_housing_and_crime.html?cid=28583534

Best regards,

Simon

Even worse! Emergency Response Service 117 is not English speaking in a city which holds most of International Institutions within the country.

The thread is over a year old, but I do agree with you that non-English-speaking police (and 117 emergency service) in a place like Geneva is absurd. 

Ah! Fondly remembering all those times I was able to air my grievances in German, French or Hungarian when living in anglophone countries ;-) Seriously, people, while I do agree that the local police force appears to be more concerned about nuisance issues, providing foreign-language assistance to *residents* will probably remain low on their agenda for quite a while.

The issue with the English is they have an English spoken unit - Diplomatic Protection Unit which works for upper-class people only. 

It is not about providing a quality service but protecting locals and expats from major incidents where accurate information makes the different in police response.

Ah,how I remember the night I went to an acapella performance(yes,acapella,no musicians,no amplifiers)in the garden of a community centre that happened to be in a posh part of Geneva.The group were from the UK - so how embarrassed did i feel when the police came to shut us down!!

I suppose,if you are rich in Geneva,you get preferential treatment?

(I was embarrassed too when I told my London friends about this incident!!!!It was just unbelievable - we were having an unnoisey concert with a small,quiet audience-but I guess we were part of the "undesireables".)

Buzzocks,

a concert that in unnoisey is an oxymoron and I remember about your post a few weeks ago during the football games complaining that you cannot sleep because they were noisy.

Maybe someone also could not sleep and there are some rules you are obliged to follow with regard to noise. It is always good to check especially if you go abroad afterall this is not London but Switzerland and we are expected to adjust and not the other way around.

R.

Well.....honking horns up till midnight on the streets is not quite the same as  gentle acapella singing that was taking place around.....8pm!!Who is trying to sleep on a Friday night at that time?

The people organizing the event,and who ran the centre,were.....Swiss.Even they felt embarrassed.

Police is ok, but there is a shortage of policemen. + The penal code should be changed. France is more strict. So criminals come to Geneva. Geneva is not like before. However the police do their best, but they really need help from the politicians.

E.G. Do you understand why a policeman is just allowed to wear a teaser and not a proper weapon. What do you do when a bank is robbed ? :-) You wait ...  We really need our politics to do something