Elite police officer Adrian Leuthard: “Chuck Norris from the Freiburg Oberland” wants to go to Bern

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If Adrian Leuthard (50) enters parliament in the elections on October 22, there will be parliamentarians who will give him ample room. At least that is what is claimed. On social networks they call him “Chuck Norris from the Freiburger Oberland”.

Leuthard – father of three children, athlete type, police officer since 1995 – owes his nickname to his resume. And photos showing him in action: Leuthard next to Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) at the WEF in Davos, Leuthard on the steps of a Swiss Air Force plane, Leuthard in full gear at a briefing, Leuthard as a competitive swimmer.

From 1999 he worked in the team of the Basilisk special unit of the Basel-Stadt cantonal police. Areas of expertise: personal protection, explosives, aircraft operations. He later moved to the Tigris Special Unit of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Fedpol) as operations manager, where he protected federal councilors, presidents of the National Council and federal prosecutors during trips to African countries and the Middle East. He has been heading Fedpol’s Personal Protection department for a year and a half.

As a left-wing police officer to Bern

And now he wants to be on the National Council. For the SP. “After my long work in the cantonal and federal police, my ambitions are high because I know people’s concerns,” says Leuthard on the terrace of a café in central Freiburg.

Since 2021, he has represented ‘the people’ in the municipal council of his residential community Plaffeien FR, with approximately 3,500 inhabitants. As the first SP representative in Senseoberland for more than 30 years. Department: Public Order and Safety. Since last year he has also been vice-chairman of the SP Freiburg.

Leuthard has been active in politics for over ten years, most of which as a silent creator in the background. His hobbyhorse is safety policy. He wrote papers for the police and politicians and worked closely with former national councilor Chantal Galladé (50). He says: “Police officers hardly have a lobby in Bern.” That is also the reason he wants to go to the political front. As a left-wing police officer, against all clichés.

‘Nurse, teacher, police officer should become dream jobs again’

Leuthard complains that customs in Switzerland have become harsher. Also in politics. That people no longer come together and come up with the best possible solutions, but instead just point the finger at their political opponents – regardless of which camp.

But: Switzerland must solve the existing problems, otherwise it will be economically uninteresting in ten years’ time, Leuthard puts it in black. “In the field of healthcare, for example, we have a shortage of skilled workers. The same in education, and also in safety. We need to step on the accelerator here, we need to create an environment where nurses, teachers and police officers become dream jobs again.”

That’s where he wants to start – and so he adds: ‘If you don’t have wishful thinking as a politician, you won’t move the country forward.’ He wants to give Bern the experience and values ​​that he experiences as a police officer and that also drive him as a politician: be unbiased, listen to everyone and quickly look for solutions. “My strength,” says Leuthard.

Not always within party lines

Because: He knows the feeling of being underestimated and viewed critically. “Both as a police officer and as a politician, you never immediately experience good will.” He is convinced that a bridge builder like him would help the national parliament.

Even political opponents testify to the fact that he has the potential to do so. Leuthard is considered a reliable doer, a solution-oriented local politician who sometimes makes compromises without always strictly following the party line. From his working environment it is said: He sees solutions and not problems and functions objectively and professionally, even in absolute crisis situations.

The question about Leuthard’s political future is therefore mainly whether someone who receives so much praise in advance will actually be elected.

Parliament or Fedpol, neither works

Leuthard is in fifth place on Freiburg’s SP list. All previous candidates are standing for re-election. And there is a good chance that the distribution of the seven seats in the National Council will remain stable. But simply: if you don’t have wishful thinking, you won’t get any further.

The only downside: if Leuthard were elected, he would have to quit his job at Fedpol. “It’s something that wakes me up at night,” he admits. “Protecting people is my life’s work.”

But as Chuck Norris says, “Chuck Norris doesn’t have nightmares, the nightmares are afraid of him.”

Source:Blick