Swiss cantons refuse to abandon mention of skin colour in police alerts

The Zurich and Bern cantonal police forces will continue to mention the skin colour of wanted persons in the Ripol system. The canton of Bern does not agree with the new directive from the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), which it considers to be erroneous. We do not agree with Fedpol's decision to stop mentioning skin colour in the Ripol search system, writes Zurich government member Philipp Müller in a letter sent to the federal office on Wednesday. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The cantonal director of security said he was "surprised, as it seems that no attempt has been made to involve the cantons, which are responsible for internal security, and in particular the cantonal police forces, which are an essential part of the criminal prosecution chain". 'Wrong and unhelpful' Müller went on to criticise the decision for being "objectively wrong", as it unnecessarily complicates the investigative work of police forces in important cases. In his letter ...