New firm appointed to provide psychological support to police

Earlier this year the police advertised for companies to provide them with psychological advice and support. It was not that they were unhappy with the company doing this at the time, it was because, by law, the vacancy had to be put out to tender when the contract came up for renewal.
 
As it turned out, only one company applied, namely the Michael Stark Psychological Advice and Coaching firm (MSBC) of Zurich, as Gregor Bättig, a senior police officer with the Zug force, confirmed. One other company, from Bern, made further enquires but declined to make an application.
 
When looking at what is expected of such firms it is perhaps not surprising that only one firm applied. Among the tasks the psychologists are expected to do is to prepare officers on how to cope with incidents in which people have lost their lives or been injured, or be on the verge of suicide. They also have an advisory role in the appointment of new staff. Furthermore, as situations in which they may be needed are not foreseeable, they have to guarantee they are available 365 days a year and commit themselves to being wherever needed in the canton within the hour. Naturally they are expected to be able to be trustworthy and well trained, too.
 
The Humanfocus-Moos HR Consulting company of Zug, which hitherto provided such psychological support to the police, decided not to reapply on this occasion. Hence the MSBC company will be taking on the job for the next five years, until 2022.
 
Over the past five years, the annual cost per annum of such psychological support has been CHF 95,000, making use of a team of six psychologists working on a part-time basis. This is in contrast to what happens in Lucerne, where three full-time psychologists are employed.
 
Stark himself has been providing psychological support for Zurich for the past ten years, working in cooperation with Wolfgang Moos of the aforementioned company.