Burglaries up in rural areas
It is thought burglars are targeting jewellery because of a steep rise in the value of gold
BURGLARIES of main homes have gone up 18% in a year and have risen even more steeply in rural areas.
According to Le Monde official crime figures show rural departments such as the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Ariège, Creuse or Lot saw rises of around 60% from September 2010 to August 2011, as compared to the same period the year before.
However the paper said this should be balanced against the fact the actual annual number of burglaries in such departments is not high – for example only around 200 in the Creuse, which has the lowest number of crimes in France (though it is also one of the least populous).
In total in France there were 28,000 more burglaries compared to the previous year.
It is thought that the rise is linked to a steep increase in the value of gold (up 83% over the last three years), said radio station RMC. Jewellery is the main target of burglars.
They typically go for isolated houses near to main roads, so as to make their escape more easily. Only about 13% of crimes are solved and eight out of ten are carried out during the day.
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