Gendarmerie (Switzerland)
The gendarmerie are the uniformed branch of the cantonal police of the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland, and their members are not soldiers but civilians.
The first bodies of Swiss gendarmes result from the gendarmes of foot of Napoleon Bonaparte present in Switzerland during the French occupation under Swiss republic.
Currently, the police authority is exercised by the cantons, which are like Sovereign states. The cantonal police force is generally subdivided in two bodies:
- the gendarmerie, the uniformed organization in which performs the tasks of police patrol and response, and may conduct judicial enquiries.
- the sûreté, civil investigators who work in the Criminal Investigation Department (average and serious crime)
However in certain cantons, the gendarmes have the ability to conduct local or judicial enquiries.