Online reports – Politics – “I would have to have a permanent, large force at my disposal”

© Photo by OnlineReports.ch

“Then I can’t be satisfied”: Basel police commander Gerhard Lips

Basel police commander Gerhard Lips on the unmolested Saubanner procession through Basel-Stadt on 1 May

From Peter Knechtli

The spontaneous Saubanner procession, which moved unhindered through the Basel city center for twenty minutes on the evening of May 1st and caused massive damage, surprised the police. In an interview with OnlineReports, police commander Gerhard Lips (49) explained that the vandal procession could only have been stopped with a permanent task force.

Online reports: Mr. Lips, a Saubanner procession was able to move unhindered from Barfüsserplatz through the city center to Claraposten in Kleinbasel. Only there was it stopped by the police. Do you consider this to be a satisfactory outcome from a police perspective?

Gerhard Lips: If it is possible for a Saubannerzug to march through the city centre for twenty minutes without being disturbed and committing property damage, I cannot be satisfied …

Online reports: …what was missing?

Lips: If you look at the general conditions, the staffing levels and the organizational structure do not allow me to have a sufficiently strong and large force available at all times to deal with a spontaneous Saubannerzug. I do not have a permanent reserve force that I could immediately deploy for such incidents. This means that I have to bring together existing patrols from all over the canton and call people to the police stations. This obviously takes a certain amount of time.

Online reports: What would you – looking back – do differently?

Lips: There was a special contingent because of May Day, but it was sent home in the early evening because the situation was calm and there were no signs that there might be unrest.

“Yes, we were from this Saubannerzug
surprised. You could say that.

Online reports: Was the Basel police surprised by the Saubannerzug?

Lips: Yes, you could say that.

Online reports: Did the police feel safe because they assumed that there had never been any riots on the evening of May 1st in Basel before?

Lips: In fact, we did not have to assume and had no information that unrest could develop in Basel on the evening of May 1st.

Online reports: Why were the rioters not simply surrounded on the Mittlere Brücke and brought to a standstill?

Lips: Because at that time we had not yet assembled our available forces and therefore were not yet ready for action.

Online reports: Did the massive police presence in Basel-Landschaft at the Harassenlauf provoke the Basel Saubannerzug?

Lips: This question, which is now being asked frequently, is very difficult to answer in my opinion. What is certain is that the Saubannerzug expressed hatred of the police as an institution. This is evident in various spray-paintings and smearings. Whether this is connected to the Harassenlauf or to a general aversion to the police is an open question for me.

Online reports: How would she have decided if she had had a ready-to-use force at her disposal?

Lips: We would then have stopped the demonstrators as quickly as possible, surrounded them and then subjected them to identity checks.

“A permanent intervention force would be ideal,
but it is not realistic.”

Online reports: Are you actually calling for such a permanent operational reserve?

Lips: This would be the ideal solution for such unexpected incidents. However, it would only be possible with a massive increase in personnel or a completely new set of priorities, which is not realistic due to the very rare occurrence of similar incidents.

Online reports: Do you assume that frustrated Harassenläufer were part of the Saubannerzug?

Lips: I can't really judge that. I haven't had any insight into the surveys yet.

Online reports: How many Basel city police officers were involved in the operation against the Baselbieter Harassenlauf?

Lips: Around 30 people.

Online reports: Were these police officers missing from the operation in the city?

Lips: No, because on Saturday evening, when the Saubannerzug took place, they were no longer on duty and had been sent home around 8 p.m.

Online reports: Many rioters were masked. Despite the ban on masks, the police did not hold them accountable – why not?

“We certainly had no means
to bring masked people to justice.

Lips: If we had no means to stop the next demonstration in time, then we certainly had no means to hold masked protesters to account.

Online reports: Is the ban on face coverings not enforceable in practice?

Lips: Yes. If demonstrators are subjected to identity checks and are found to be wearing masks, they will be punished.

Online reports: How much damage do you estimate was caused in Basel?

Lips: I can't say at the moment, but it will certainly be several tens of thousands of francs.

Online reports: Who will pay for this?

Lips: In principle, the person who caused the damage is responsible for it. If a person responsible can be identified, the person who caused the damage is responsible for it.

May 3, 2010

Further links:

“Were you there, Mr. Furrer?”

Hello, Mr. Abdul R. Furrer, what makes you call these hooligans left-wing ultras? Were you there? Do you know any participants like that? Probably not, since they come from right-wing circles. People are willing to leave the legitimate concerns of workers to the left. If you were to ask the police, they would tell you that such vandals and hooligans have nothing to do with politics, but are just provoking violence. Your statement fits in nicely with your own worldview, and that's where such blackheads come in handy.

Too cheap, Mr Furrer. Or does it also occur to you to label the “Joggeli” anarchists as leftists? Probably not, as it is likely that you will make yourself unpopular with your own “right-wing” people.

Bruno HeubergerOberwil

“I can’t hear it anymore”

Once again, left-wing extremists have left a trail of destruction through our city. And once again, our police superiors believe the usual clichés:

1. “We were surprised”

2. “That was not to be expected”

3. “We don’t have enough staff”

4. “There was no time for operational planning,” and so on.

I can't hear it anymore, it makes me sick. The fact is that May 1st “demonstrations” and their aftermath ALWAYS result in riots. If this comes as a surprise to the police leadership and no precautions were taken, they are incompetent and must face the consequences.

The Ber Z (standby unit) is stationed in the former Horburg post. This Ber Z is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and – precisely for “unforeseen events” – is ready and available at any time. In addition, the dispatch of a police contingent to the Harassenlauf could have been refused with reference to the police’s own problems – of course only if Security Director Gass and Police Commander Lips did not offer themselves to Pegoraro, citing the police agreement. The excuse of personal scarcity does not work this time either.

It should only be mentioned in passing that the ban on wearing masks is not consistently enforced. However, it is interesting to note that since the commander moved to Basel, Zurich has taken decisive action against hooligans, vandals and all forms of terror.

I think there is no need for further proof that the “de-escalation strategy” prescribed by Jörg Schild and continued unhindered by Hanspeter Gass – in other words: benevolent accompaniment of chaotic demonstrations and processions – is not only a discontinued model, but a thing of the past.

The population has had enough of this do-gooder passivity and does not want to hear any more lame excuses. Instead, they want to hear the unanimous words from Messrs Gass and Lips: “We are resigning.”

Abdul R. FurrerBasel