Repeated escapes from Uitikon centre spark security debate

Repeated escapes by young offenders from the Uitikon Measures Centre have prompted calls for tighter security. Swiss broadcaster SRF reported that another resident recently fled the facility and was arrested several days later in Bern after allegedly threatening a shop security guard with a knife.

Jérôme Endrass, deputy head of the Zurich Office for the Enforcement of Justice and Rehabilitation, said the facility was not a prison. “It is a closed institution of sorts,” he said.

The Uitikon Measures Centre is an institution for young men aged between 16 and 29 who have committed offences. It has 58 places, including 28 in a closed unit and 30 in an open unit. Residents undergo measures under juvenile criminal law or the Swiss Criminal Code and are intended to be reintegrated into society.

They complete vocational training, including as painters, cooks or gardeners. According to SRF, the centre is unique in Switzerland in offering such training in its closed unit. Residents have committed serious offences, including homicide, rape, robbery, arson or serious bodily harm.

Another resident escaped in June, while four young men fled the centre in 2024. Endrass said violent incidents involving young people who escape from institutions were rare, but possible. “We are glad that nobody was harmed this time,” he said, adding that the centre was working to close security gaps. Its standards, however, could not be compared with those of a prison.

The centre has also faced criticism over other security issues. SRF Investigative reported that, at the end of 2024, a 16-year-old offender seriously injured the head of the security service in an attack. The man, now 64, had to leave the centre in May because of disability.

Zurich politicians are calling for answers. Cantonal parliamentarian Daniel Wäfler of the Swiss People’s Party said there had been “many escapes” and that the centre needed improvements to its buildings or staffing. If someone had to remain behind locked doors, he said, that had to be enforceable.

Wäfler chairs the Zurich Cantonal Parliament’s Committee for Justice and Public Security. The committee plans to examine the situation after the summer break. Green parliamentarian Sabine Arnold, who also sits on the committee, said it wanted to hear from the office’s management how the situation had arisen and what improvements were planned.

Arnold also stressed that the centre was not a high-security facility. She said she was more concerned about violence against staff and the apparent unrest among employees. The political debate is expected to continue in the Zurich Cantonal Parliament after the summer break.