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Last year there were more shopliftings. People from North African countries in particular stand out negatively.
9 a.m. in the Loeb department store in Bern. You can still only meet a few customers. Martin Stucki from the management stands in front of the Ralph Lauren clothes. The prices are in the upper middle class – such goods are sought after by shoplifters. But a lot of other things are also stolen and, above all, more often, confirms Stucki: “We are recording significantly more thefts than, for example, two years ago.”
Last year there were 600 thefts at Loeb’s three locations, almost doubling the previous year. According to Stucki, among the thieves caught are Swiss and foreigners of various nationalities. They often acted in groups. “They grab it when no one is there. For example, if the security man or woman is currently on another floor. Within a short period of time they take a lot of goods with them and suddenly leave the department store.” You are powerless there.
Increased delinquency among people from the Maghreb
Loeb has now increased the security company’s staff. Thieves who are stopped often react aggressively, says Stucki. “It is primarily verbal aggressiveness. Our security personnel are massively insulted and some of them are also unruly: They defend themselves, want to run away, avoid questioning or feel they are in the right.
Legend: According to crime statistics, there were more than 24,000 shoplifters in 2023 – an increase of 15 percent. Martin Stucki (left) from the management of the Loeb department store and Anna Bähni from the Bern City inner city association can confirm the findings from their own experience. Andrea Jaggi/SRF
Anna Bähni is co-managing director of the Bern City inner city association. She says other shop owners in Bern’s old town are also affected. The perpetrators often come from North Africa. “There are perpetrators who go straight to the cash register and demand money. Without a weapon, but with great determination and a lot of pressure. When people are being held there are always insults.”
This is stressful for the sales staff because smaller stores usually don’t have security, says Bähni. «Employees in a retail store are not trained in the same way as security personnel. They cannot cover this to this extent – not even psychologically.”
Particularly high delinquency rate
Current crime statistics show a high delinquency rate, especially among Algerians and Moroccans, and not just in theft. Why actually? There are various reasons for this, says freelance journalist and Maghreb expert Beat Stauffer. «An important point is that many young people from the lower class come to Europe from the Maghreb. They are often poorly educated, have dropped out of school and some have already committed crimes in their country of origin.”
Cantons of Zurich and Bern: Focus on foreign criminals
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Last year, the number of fraud and property crimes increased, according to the Crime statistics for the canton of Zurich increased significantly. An increase in the number of people from the asylum sector and crime tourists was recorded among the suspects.
Security Director Mario Fehr (non-party) “does not want to avoid the political debate,” as he told the media. The police had to be called out 344 times because of serious bodily harm. In 47 cases for attempted murder. Seven people were killed. The increase in knife attacks is striking: last year there were 105 cases, the previous year only 79.
The canton of Zurich is still safe, said Fehr. However, he has “less and less desire” to avoid ignoring who commits a large proportion of these crimes, namely people from the asylum sector. “You just can’t explain it away.”
Rejected asylum seekers in particular often end up on the wrong track: For example, among the currently 63 rejected asylum seekers from Algeria, the crime rate is 91 percent.
In the Crime statistics for the canton of Bern It is noticeable that thefts from vehicles have doubled in the last year. According to the cantonal police, it was found that the majority of the accused came from Maghreb countries. This is particularly high for property crimes. This development can be observed throughout Switzerland.
“We find that the perpetrators often know that they have little to fear, behave in a correspondingly unruly manner and sometimes even threaten or even attack our employees,” said commander Christian Brenzikofer.
In addition, people from Maghreb countries have no longer been allowed to travel legally to Europe since 1990. “Even though their countries had close contact with Europe for over a hundred years: their fathers, grandfathers and uncles were still able to legally emigrate to Europe. This creates huge frustration. I partly explain this behavior through this circumstance.”
These are explanations. But there are no solutions for shop owners. The Bern city center shop association works closely with the authorities. You try to protect yourself. For example, as already mentioned, with additional security personnel. “If you make it more difficult for the perpetrators, they will come less,” says Martin Stucki from the Loeb management.