Burglaries on the rise across France
Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône in the south have seen the biggest increase over the past year
BURGLARIES in some parts of France are up by more than 60% on last year, according to new research.
The Observatoire National de la Délinquance said house break-ins were up by 12% nationwide between August 2008 and July this year – the first rise since 2002.
The south of France was the worst affected. The Vaucluse saw the biggest increase, up 62% between August 2008 and July this year.
The neighbouring Bouches-du-Rhône reported a 32.5% rise over the same period.
In the north, Calvados in Haute-Normandie saw burglaries rise by 22.5% on last year.
According to the OND, most break-ins are the work of organised specialist gangs. They know exactly what they are looking for and choose houses likely to have high-value items such as jewellery that can be sold on relatively easily.
OND director Christophe Soullez said: “There could be 40 [burglaries] in any given area carried out over a very short period of time.”
The organisation believes that thefts from people’s homes are on the rise because they are more vulnerable than cars and shops, which tend to have better alarm systems or CCTV.
National statistics office Insee says the figures are only the tip of the iceberg. It believes that a quarter of burglary victims do not report the crime to the police.
This figure rises to two-thirds for attempted break-ins where nothing is stolen.
