When should the police wear a hygiene mask? The question has been agitating the troops for a good week. Increasingly called upon to intervene in public space and enforce the restrictions imposed on the population, the police are worried about their own protection. The doctrine, drawn from the very strict directives imposed by the great Manitobans of health, was finally relaxed to respond to the exceptional circumstances of the moment and calm the unions. Each canton says it in its own way, but the message is basically the same: the police can wear a mask if the situation seems risky, while keeping in mind that there is a shortage.
Bad mood
According to the recommendations of the Federal Office of Public Health and the doxa of cantonal doctors, the wearing of a mask is not necessary to address the citizen, nor to roam the streets. The best thing is to keep a good distance and wash your hands. When faced with a suspect who is ill or has symptoms, the police must equip the person in question with a surgical mask. If the latter refuses, he himself has to put on a so-called respiratory mask (FFP2, which builds up and filters the air). These guidelines, ill-suited to the daily work of the agent who often acts in an emergency and must go to contact, have aroused a lot of bad humor.
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On March 20, the Swiss Federation of Police Officers addressed the conference of commanders so that security professionals could benefit from the same protection measures as health professionals. The union does not demand general and binding regulations, but the freedom to wear a mask according to a proportional assessment of each situation. “A sick policeman is of no use,” said the missive again. This one reached its goal with a variable intensity according to the cantons, that of the Jura appearing as the most permissive in terms of masked patrol.
“Sense of responsibility”
In Geneva, where the unions have further increased the tension with threats, the commander Monica Bonfanti has stepped up efforts to reassure employees and obtain derogations from the cantonal doctor. First result on March 21: if the initial principles advising against permanent wear remain valid, the police officer must now put on a surgical mask when he is on call at the hospital (like carers) and he must cover himself with an FFP2 when ” he resuscitates someone or when he intervenes in support of a doctor without being able to stay at a good distance.
In a letter of March 23, Monica Bonfanti further specifies that the doctrine of using the surgical mask (which is not normally considered as self-protective equipment) must adapt to the reality of the moment. As not all of the situations can be listed, the hierarchy therefore leaves each police officer a margin of appreciation and thus opens the way to wider and better use. “I defer to your sense of responsibility,” concludes the commander, while admitting that a “feeling of protection” can occasionally guide the choice of the police officer. When contacted, she said: “The legitimate fears have been heard. I think this directive will clarify the situation and put an end to some misunderstandings. ”
Cantonal variations
The Geneva police (like all the others) have their own stock of equipment. It is estimated that this reserve covers approximately forty days of reasonable use for both types of mask. An order is in progress but nothing says that it will succeed. In the meantime, each post and brigade has received a batch. In the canton of Vaud, the approach remains more strict and the distribution is done drop by drop. “Since last weekend, each employee has received one or two masks at a time for very specific use,” said Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesman for the cantonal police, who warns against “the false feeling of protection »That this tool can entail in everyday work.
During the press point on Wednesday, Doctor Karim Boubaker, Vaud cantonal doctor, did not hide a certain annoyance on this question: “Except for health personnel, the mask is only recommended during interventions involving physical contact with a contaminated person or strongly suspected to be. ” The 731 police officers of the canton, who act 24 hours a day to contain the spread (122 fines of order and 35 denunciations to the Public Prosecutor’s office in the space of a week), are therefore requested to reserve the mask for “exceptional situations “
Vaud currently has 11% of police officers absent due to illness, “including a few cases of Covid-19,” according to details provided by the chief of staff, Denis Froidevaux. Without knowing whether the infection is related to their activity. In Friborg, “three employees were tested positive,” said Bertrand Ruffieux, on behalf of the cantonal police. Staff have received masks and should use them “when in direct contact with so-called at-risk individuals”. In Valais, the police are equipped. Their spokesperson, Stève Léger, adds: “Currently, masks are not worn on a daily basis but exclusively in the context of interventions against people with symptoms or in a confined environment.”
Too small rooms
The police also had to adapt their premises to the health crisis. “The small rooms are no longer used for auditions and a protective panel has been installed in the others,” explains Jean-Christophe Sauterel. The Vaudois president, Nicolas Gillard, who worried about early lawyers and defendants, is not yet reassured: “I have received reports that the situation is far from ideal.”
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These precautions also concern prosecutors who officiate at the permanence of arrests. “They can use a surgeon’s mask when the person provided is symptomatic and wears a mask himself. We also had a plexiglass panel installed to prevent possible outbursts by an angry accused, “said Olivier Jornot, the head of the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office. The distances are managed to be respected at all times but not necessarily in the offices of the prosecutors, who must then hold the hearings – those which are maintained – in a larger room. Everywhere and every day, habits are shaken up.
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