Prevention services offered by the Basel police in demand

In Basel-Stadt, the cantonal police also work to prevent violence. Leonie Meyer, head of the department, explains in an interview what is important here. And why teachers and school administrators are requesting the free service more frequently.

Why does the Basel-Stadt cantonal police need a “Prevention of violence” department?
The fact that violence prevention is part of the cantonal police force is a historical development and unique in a national comparison. In many cantons, this is attached to another department, is provided by private companies or is non-existent. We are aware that the integration of violence prevention into the cantonal police force can cause inhibitions among the people we want to reach. But we also see very clear advantages. For example, our team includes representatives from the fields of psychology, social pedagogy, violence counseling and the police. Thanks to the close cooperation between the various departments and the different perspectives, we can always achieve the best possible result and cover a wide range of topics.

What are the most important tasks?
Our tasks can be divided into three areas: Prevention, intervention and training. The preventive measures are ready-made programs that can be implemented in kindergartens through to lower secondary school. This is what is known as universal prevention. This is suitable for all school classes and pursues the following goals: We promote social skills, the ability to resolve conflicts, empathy and class cohesion.

Who are interventions and training courses aimed at?
Interventions are offered for school classes from primary to upper secondary level if a class or group has already experienced unpleasant dynamics, conflicts or specific incidents. Here, the content is individually adapted to the needs of the classes – this is known as selective prevention. As indicated prevention, we offer behavioral training, the third area. These include conflict training for children, stop-violence training and conflict competence training. This training is suitable for children and young people who are increasingly conspicuous at school or in their private lives for their boundary-breaking or transgressive behavior. The training sessions take place outside of school in a group setting.

How often do teachers and school administrators make use of your services each year? Is that increasing?
As all our offers are only available on request and there is no comprehensive program, the figures vary greatly from year to year. In recent years, however, we have seen a sharp increase in inquiries. In 2023 alone, prevention was carried out in 58 classes, intervention in 47 classes and training with 54 children or young people. It is important for me to emphasize that all services in the canton of Basel-Stadt are free of charge.

What is the best way to reach students? How does a training course or an intervention actually work?
This varies greatly from class to class. In general, it is important to us to fill our offers with as little dry theory as possible, but to choose the experiential educational approach. We try to convey our content to the pupils with lots of exercises and games and practise with them straight away. When it comes to interventions, it is also very important to us that the classes themselves have a say in which topics are important to them, i.e. what bothers them in the classroom and where they also see the strengths. On the one hand, this increases the motivation of the participants, and on the other hand, they can be made more responsible.

How long does this take?
The timeline for universal prevention is clearly defined. Depending on the school level, there are between one and five appointments per class. During an intervention, the duration is individually adapted to the needs of the class. First there is always a preliminary discussion with the teacher, followed by a parents’ evening and then an average of five double lessons with the class.

What other prevention services does your department offer?
As part of indicated prevention, we also offer individual counseling for children and young people. For example, if we find that the group setting is not suitable or the topic is too different from that of the other participants.

We are also the point of contact for all matters relating to violence and provide individual training or workshops on violence, bullying, dealing with aggressive behaviour, amok, radicalization and extremism.

Are there also telephone offers?
Yes, together with the Youth and Prevention Police Department, we operate a helpline for school administrators and teachers who have a criminal law issue or who have encountered a threatening situation in a school context. The helpline is to be understood as a telephone advice center. And we serve the contact point for radicalization. It is available to the entire population of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Anyone who suspects that someone in their private or professional environment may be in the process of radicalization and is concerned about this person can contact this contact point.

How long has the department been in existence and what has been achieved since then?
The Prevention of Violence department has existed since 2012. Apart from the fact that the range of services has been greatly expanded, many synergies in the canton have been exploited and the relationship with the schools has been strengthened. In 2016, the topic of radicalization and extremism was added by a government council resolution. The most important thing, however, is that we have been able to support a number of school classes over these twelve years and help various children and young people to leave the spiral of violence.

What special prevention work is coming up in 2024?
Due to the increasing number of inquiries and the many new projects in recent years, we are unfortunately at our staffing limits at the moment. To our regret, this has resulted in long waiting times. That is why we are focusing less on new topics in 2024. Instead, we try to reduce waiting times so that we can offer school classes prompt support.

What motivates you in your work?
I feel and experience my work as very meaningful. That is very motivating. Our work in violence prevention is also very varied – every day, every class has something new to offer. In addition, I have always been interested in looking behind the “façade”: Why does someone behave like this? Why does someone use violence? Children and young people in particular usually have very tragic fates behind their behavior. This explains a lot, but of course does not excuse it. Being able to offer help to children and young people in this situation instead of condemning them motivates me every day.