Practical Information

Crime & Foreign Residents

The emergency telephone number in Switzerland to be called in order to report all crimes is 117. Police in Switzerland are either federal or local. Swiss federal police are plain clothed officers and only become involved in serious crimes that go beyond canton level in Switzerland. Victims of crime in Switzerland are far more likely to come into contact with the local canton police who deal with the majority of police issues locally. If you commit a crime as a foreign resident, you can be jailed and/or deported.