Drug trafficking –
PLR remedies to fight against street dealing
The party wants in particular to limit access to injection premises in Lausanne to Lausanne residents only. Its goal: to secure public space.
Published today at 5:33 p.m.
The PLR Vaud calls for better collaboration to be put in place between the police and social workers.
Jean-Paul Guinnard
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“We are walking on our heads in this canton: it is forbidden to pick mushrooms every first week of the month, but we can deal in our towns with complete impunity.” It is in these terms that MP Grégory Bovay, vice-president of the PLR Vaud, denounced this Thursday the insecurity in public spaces, linked to street dealing.
His party will submit several texts to the municipal councils of Yverdon-les-Bains, Vevey and Lausanne, as well as to the Grand Council, in order to demand firm and effective actions.
In Lausanne, it is Mathilde Maillard who wants the authorities to set accessibility criteria for injection premises in Vallon and Riponne. “The Municipality indicated that only 56% of users reside in Lausanne or its region. This means that 40% don’t have to be there, but they can be found on our streets. And as demand creates supply, dealers are more present. The message is clear: we must return our cities to their inhabitants and finally take care of honest people who respect the laws.
In Lausanne, Mathilde Maillard wants the authorities to set accessibility criteria for injection premises. Here, that of Riponne.
Patrick Martin
For the PLR elected official, the injection premises should be reserved for people from Lausanne and its region. “It is not up to Lausanne to take charge of all drug addiction in the canton,” agrees MP Florence Bettschart-Narbel, president of the PLR Vaud.
Support for “blue light” teams
The PLR Vaud also calls for better collaboration between the police and social workers, as this coordination proves crucial to guarantee the safety and well-being of citizens. It would even be “indispensable” to respond to the challenges posed by street dealing. The right-wing party will therefore propose to the Council of State to study the models of collaboration existing in certain Swiss German cities, such as Zurich or Bern, and to set up joint training in order to raise everyone’s awareness of the skills and roles of the ‘other, thus strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation on the ground.
Other texts which will soon be submitted by the PLR Vaud to the Grand Council: an inquiry concerning actions to be taken in order to prevent drug use, an inquiry on prison overcrowding, and a request for support for “blue light” teams (firefighters, police, ambulance) in the face of violence against civil servants.
Finally, regarding the call for help launched in the Canton last September by the left-wing municipalities of Yverdon-les-Bains, Vevey and Lausanne to fight against street dealing, the PLR Vaud says: surprised and shocked. These cities notably requested the holding of criminal proceedings. “It’s clearly an admission of failure,” says Mathilde Maillard.
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Laurent Antonoff has been a journalist in the Vaud section since 1990. After covering the regions of Northern Vaud and the Riviera, he joined the Lausanne editorial team at the turn of the millennium. A novelist in his spare time, he won the Berner Zeitung Local Journalism Prize in 1998.More info
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