Nobody needs risk mitigation until the risk materializes. Some people like to have options, like a second passport or a sizeable bitcoin stash in cold storage, or a basement with 3 month of canned food. Ymmv
I come from a dangerous place and the risk mitigation strategy is deception. Deception at various levels. First level is to be grey. Second level is to assume one is going to be robbed one way or another, so use decoys and let robbers leave satisfied with minimal to zero loses. Lying is a great skill when properly used 
Ever thought about those lizards that detach their tails when attacked and escape? They regrow the tail and are ready again. Maybe thatâs my spirit animal.
PS, guns are fun!
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When I was a child, we had 5x shotguns in the house + 20ish dogs in the compound. The dogs were not pets, but trained guard dogs, who would attack and bite. We had broken glass and razor wire on the walls.
Yet, somehow, we were still burgled regularly. Not so much the house, but the warehouses in the same compound. On one occasion, we had iron I-beams stolen. Each one weights several hundred KG, and there were no machinery tracks. It looked like a gang of people demolised a piece of the fence, and carried out a few i-beams.
We had a MASSIVE safe in the office - as in, the foundations were poured, and the safe was brought in BEFORE the walls were built. Some cash (local currency) and a few fake rolexs were in the safe.
It wasnât until recently that I found out dad stored the real cash (hard currency) elsewhere⌠and it wasnât a safe.
One (credible) threat actor for him was the government, military or insurgents, would come by and ask the owners to open the safe. He could comply, plead poverty⌠and hand over the contents of the safe. Deception is a POWERFUL tactic.
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What country was this?
It wasnât until recently that I found out dad stored the real cash (hard currency) elsewhere⌠and it wasnât a safe.
And are you really going to leave us hanging like that?!
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I got the soundtrack to @Spinal 's forthcoming bio pic.
One of the things I love about Switzerland is that one doesnât live in a state of fear (real or imagined) here, seeing Scary Bad Things lurking around every corner and under every bed.
I grew up with that lack of fear in my home country, too, albeit back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. We still lived more or less that way up until I left, in the mid 90s.
But with the advent of sensationalist media (looking at you, Faux News), I saw with every visit home the once pervasive sense of well-being continually eroding. The message of âEverything has gone to hell. Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!!â constantly drumming in the background seems to have rewired peopleâs brains. Now fear, of any and every âotherâ, seems to drive their actions.
My family live in a largely homogenous, economically comfortable suburb. Great schools, friendly community. A church on every corner. Crime is almost as uncommon as it was when I was a kid. Yet they are all afraid, very afraid, sure they could fall victim to (add your favorite criminal category here) at any moment. They now seem to live their lives suspious of all around them. They imagine their world is far more dangerous than it actually is.
For no reason. Not because of negative experience, but because of propaganda.
I bring this up because some of the responses on this thread seem to be falling into that fearfullness trap. That is not a healthy way to live.
Switzerland is still safe. Generally even small crimes here get media attention simply because they are uncommon. Perhaps that might paint a picture that, if one interprets the news through a filter of experiences in other countries, could cause one to interpret Swiss society as more unsafe that it actually is.
Iâll say it again: Switzerland is still safe. Be aware of the potential for crime, but donât blow it out of proportion. Sure, take reasonable precautions. Be sensible. Keep your street smarts. But donât let fear take over. Looking back home across the pond, fear seems to be a self fulfilling prophesy.
Thank doG we are in Switzerland.
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This is the thing I notice when I am in the US. The people are really fearful of a lot of things a lot without real justification. Part of it is not surprising when you see the news/media and the sensational way they push news.
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OK, AT hereâŚbut the same linguistic/historical roots as CH. I am so happy here, vs. hearing the constant fear-mongering in the US. People leave their doors unlocked here, and delivered packages stay on doorsteps without molestation. Instead, you are more likely to find a delivery of pears, apples, winter squash, or other goodies from your neighbours.
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Yes (itâs a long story of itâs own accord - I didnât find out until he was sick, was in hospital, and started telling random nurses and people where the money was hidden). Cue a 8000km trip to ensure the money was safe.
This, I still remember how I lived in that state of fear and had to adapt to Switzerland. No complains, this was happy adaptation.
During the first month I got a bicycle and I was leaving the local Migros, kneeling down to unlock my bike. It was already dark (18h00) and I was alone. Suddenly, I hear footsteps and someone is coming directly to me. I stand up, mind races, prepare to confront this guy, bike chain in handâŚhe was just a drunk guy asking for a briquet (cigarette lighter). Some weeks later I realized this guy was just one of the wandering local drunks, completely inoffensive. At the time I was not used at not seeing a single person in the street after dark, I was a bit paranoid.
Couple weeks later I get my first salary and go out with a colleague for a few beers. We are in âcityâ center, one of those ATMs on a building façade. I (paranoid foreigner) feel a bit stressed about the poor lighting of the street (completely normal in Switzerland). My colleague uses the ATM, then itâs my turn and as I am retrieving the cash I hear footsteps. I put the cash and card in my pocket as fast as turn only to see a big guy coming at us, no more people in the street, heart pounds faster⌠not a robber, only a drug dealer with a friendly demeanor. I guess I was visibly shaken because the drug dealer excuses himself, tells that he didnât want to scare anyone, that he only saw a couple young guys, Friday, end of month, points at my alternative look, so he thought we might need his services. And let me stress this: Mr. Dealer excused himself for scaring me.
Now I laugh, but thatâs the state of fear I had before. Anyway, I lock the door even if I look go to the cellar for a wine bottle, or request delivery against signature at local Migros for more expensive packages. Also keep the eyes open in the train or when going to cities, but heyâŚSwitzerland is a lot safer.
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I donât go out after dark on my own in my home town back in Scotland and I wouldnât use public transport there or do the 10 minutes walk from the local railway station to my house after dark. Too many addicts and other weirdos lurking about, yet my house is only 5 mins from the central police station and Sheriff Court. The High Street is just down from my house but itâs dying, everything collapsed after the Covid lockdowns and there are very few shops left there to the point locals are concerned about what will go next (biggest losses were Tesco, BHS, Debenhams and Marks and Spencer). Whatâs left is regularly vandalised by feral teenagers. Such a shame as it was the premier town in Fife for shopping when I bought my house in 2014.
It doesnât worry me being out after dark in Basel though as there are always people around. Even when I lived in Kleinbasel I never felt that intimidated as we were close to the main police station. Biggest problem was the red light zone due to the noise from hookers and dealers.
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Crime - violent crime - is seeping in from France.
The uptick in recent reports about burglaries at high-end car-dealers even around Zurich and home-invasions in the French parts of Switzerland are a sign of things to come.
All the low-hanging fruit outside Switzerland are harvested it seemsâŚ
One reason why there is little if any gun-related violence in Switzerland is social cohesion and the fact that while itâs easy to get a gun, most people have something to lose.
Contrast with with the US where a huge amount of marginalized people exists that have nothing and will likely never own anything of value besides a phone, an old car and a gun (an illegal one most likely).
The same is true for those 16 year old jacking cars from dealer-lots. You canât really take away anything from them. Maybe their freedom - but that is a relative term when your financial situation basically is living in an apartment with no running water and no electricity.
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Supply and demand. A rich peaceful country is attractive for criminals as the risk/reward favors them. This is what happened to small isolated and relatively well off italian villages. Burgers and criminals went through them like a hot steel wire through butter, picking up one house after another.
Isnât it better to live in a house where you can install as many cameras as you want in your garden as long as they film your private territory instead of an apartment where you cannot even install a camera filming your door carpet without anyone complaining that you are surveying common areas and have to remove it asap?
Eight thefts in two hours, then the arrest â but Riad (27) remains free.
They steal, break in, and mug people, then they disappear. Serial offenders from the Maghreb are pushing the Swiss justice system to its limits. Now investigators are pursuing them with expedited 48-hour trials. Itâs a race against time.
Do you want to live in a prison?
I never realized Switzerland was that dangerous. Please share the ZIP codes of the crime-ridden areas. Let others know.
1000 to 9999
Thatâs the ridicule part. If you leave in fear, it only means your neighborhood has some issues. Not all neighborhoods.
I live in boring and unremarkable middle-income suburbia where nothing happens. However, Iâm not imposing the idea that from ZIP 1000 to 9999 is a safe paradise, that would be ridicule. I acknowledge there might be places with more flavor. So, where are those neighborhoods?
I have a hypothesis. Places where people complains about crime are above average in terms or sq m per per household and income, single houses, this attracts burglars. However, people who live in the desirable places donât want to tell âitâs my neighborhoodâ, otherwise their claims to live in a great place and half their personality would go up in smoke. So, people prefer to tell all Switzerland is going down the drain instead of pointing where the issues are.
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Your hypothesis is fully wrong.