WhatsApp groups affair within the Lausanne police is far from being established,” stated Cantonal Councillor Vassilis Venizelos before the Vaud Cantonal Parliament. In the end, the cantons of Vaud and Geneva will be shifting the training of their police officers back to within their cantons by 2029. Savatan’s bad reputation is apparently not the reason behind this shift. It is more driven by a desire to centralise personnel and by financial considerations, given that the lease on Savatan – which is being rented out from the Swiss Armed Forces – is expiring in any event. The main concern is believed to be ensuring that police officers in French-speaking Switzerland all follow the same training process, since the methods and the culture differ from one canton to another. certain people very well but recalls that Geneva police officers disliked travelling out there, since the criminal police previously had its own separate training programme for future inspectors. “Before, the Geneva police used to admit university graduates and people from the service sector, where physical fitness was not necessarily the main consideration,” says Maillard. The idea of raising the flag at dawn every morning at the Rock, in the middle of nowhere, is believed to have put off these candidates. In 2016, Geneva sociologist Dominique Felder interviewed police commanders from Vaud and Valais. “The martial approach favours intensity over content, obedience over critical thinking and conformity over independence,” her report, cited by RTS, says. The document triggered a wave of reforms. Savatan to close Some people trained at Savatan have reported that the instructors there made sexist and racist remarks. Did the atmosphere at Savatan have a negative impact on some of the police officers involved in the Vaud police incidents? “I’ve seen it myself: some candidates have been programmed by their training to see the other person as a threat, even when they are asking for help,” says Frédéric Maillard. According to a person who has visited Savatan as an external agent, the centre tolerated certain words or attitudes which, if they were left unchecked by the police forces, could lead to escalations. The cantonal police forces, for their part, do not seem overly concerned by the methods used at the Rock. “The causal link between the training at Savatan and the Cases of alleged police violence have led to public protests in French-speaking Switzerland. Pictured here: a vigil for Roger Nzoy Wilhelm, who died at Morges railway station. Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / December 2025 / No.5 27
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