News comes as police say 17 hooligans arrested after Saturday hockey clash
Lausanne at night: new police boss says it must be made safer
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Lausanne’s overheated nightlife and drug scene was part of the reason that city councilor Marc Vuilleumier told local newspaper Le Matin’s Sunday edition that he would no longer take responsibility for the city’s police department. The announcement came as a surprise and prompted an emergency meeting of the council Tuesday afternoon 11 September: Socialist Grégoire Junod will now head the police while Vuilleumier oversees social insurance programmes. Mayor Daniel Brélaz will now have the city’s culture file, formerly in the hands of Junod, as well as general administration.
Vuilleumier has been under fire for not keeping order, despite a heavy police presence in areas with nightclubs, where several clashes have occurred since the start of the year.
Junod, at a press conference, acknowledged the difficulties involved, but noted that “The takeover of the streets by dealers has gone too far. It’s not acceptable that children can’t play in a public park and that a woman alone can’t cross the Rue de Bourg at 22:00.”
He told police officers that 60 new jobs will be created, half of them in 2014 and half in 2016, as part of changes to rid the city of its recent security problems.
Hooliganism hits the city Saturday
Lausanne police Monday afternoon announced that 17 “hooligans” were arrested following a clash Saturday in Lausanne between the Lausanne Hockey Club and Hockey Club Fribourg-Gotteron.
The cantonal police’s anti-hooliganism cell is now investigating the exact circumstances, but at 16:45, shortly before a friendly between the two, some 20 “ultra fans” of the Fribourg Club, all wearing black, attacked a group of 10-12 Lausanne fans, near the ticket window, punching and kicking.
Close cooperation between private security agents and the police allowed the latter to arrest eight of the group soon after the fight at the Coop supermarket in Prilly and to identify and arrest the others in the stadium, where they were attending the match. Virtually all of them were under the influence of alcohol. They range in age from 18 to 32.
Three had come from Germany for the match.
Rolled-up belts used as weapons and mouthguards were found at the site of the punchup.
All 17 have now been banned from the stadium for two years, and three of them, already under bans, will now face criminal charges. The anti-hooliganism cell is investigating the incident for other possible criminal charges.
Cantonal bans can be enforced country-wide, effectively banning the two from all hockey and football arenas throughout Switzerland, for an indefinite period.
