- During the confinement, delinquency knew a fall as brutal as spectacular in Paris. And this, whatever the offense.
- Since deconfinement, the figures have remained below average. The number of burglaries fell by 79% in particular.
- The question remains as to the reality of the figures for domestic violence.
This is one of the side effects of the coronavirus epidemic: in Paris, after months of uninterrupted increase, the delinquency figures fell as brutally as dramatically during confinement. Between mid-March and mid-May, burglaries decreased by 70% and even 85% for main residences in the capital. Same observation for robberies with violence: minus 71% for the period. Pickpocketing almost halved in April, and drug trafficking and resale halved compared to the same period last year. Similarly, in April, complaints filed for rape in Paris fell by half compared to last year (86 against 42, adults and minors combined). In two months, the coronavirus epidemic managed to do what the authorities could not have hoped for, in such a short period of time, of public policies.
"The figures are logically good, the confinement put a brutal brake on the delinquency activity but not in a lasting way since the context was exceptional", notes Yvan Assioma, union delegate Alliance in Paris. The French forced to stay at home, vacant housing is becoming more scarce. And the desertification of the public highway combined with an increased control of certificates made travel more difficult during confinement.
According to the Paris police headquarters, the number of complaints registered during this period decreased by 76%. And if confinement may have affected the conditions of filing, it must be noted that since May 11, the return of the complainants to the police stations remains very gradual. The number of complaints registered the last two weeks of May remains down 40% compared to the same period in 2019, announces the prefecture.
Few burglaries since deconfinement
Since May 11, delinquency remains at a low level in the capital. Admittedly, if we trust the figures published each month by the statistical service of the Ministry of the Interior, in Paris, all categories - or almost - of crimes and misdemeanors started to rise again in May but are good far from reaching the pre-containment level. Thus, between May 11 and May 31, 136 burglaries were recorded in Paris, against 643 over the same period last year, indicates the police headquarters. A fall of 79%. While they have dropped sharply, some remain ultra-violent. At the end of May, three masked individuals came to the home of a wealthy family of American expatriates in the 16th arrondissement. After first hitting and threatening the nurse with a handgun, then tied up the two children and threatening their father who was trying to intervene, the thugs left with around thirty bags of luxury goods for an estimated amount of 800,000 euros.
The observation, if it is not as marked, is the same for robberies with violence. Although increasing since deconfinement, the facts observed remain down 33% compared to the same period in 2019, or 635 facts against 954, according to the police prefecture. "In recent days, certain crimes have returned to a level similar to that preceding confinement," said Yvan Assioma. Snatch flights or luxury watch thefts, for example, resumed very strongly and very quickly. "
As of May 11, even. That evening, at 7:30 p.m., two thieves broke into a store in the 11th arrondissement and attacked the manager to leave, a few minutes later, with her phone and her Rolex, estimated at 10,000 euros. Half an hour later, in the 17th arrondissement, a man is approached by an individual wanting to photograph his car, apple green. He accepts but the latter rushes on him and tears off his watch worth 77,000 euros before running away. In the same evening, in the 16th arrondissement, a woman robbed by two armed men also had her Rolex estimated at 7,000 euros and her phone stolen.
Uncertainty about the reality of domestic violence
While some crimes could remain at a historically low level in the coming weeks - social distancing and the very limited number of tourists complicate the "work" of pickpockets -, some unknowns remain. Starting with domestic violence. During confinement, the number of interventions for family disputes increased by 33% but complaints decreased by 27% compared to the same period last year (350 made compared to 479 in 2019). Since the deconfinement, this decline has accelerated: between May 11 and May 31, the police headquarters noted 93 incidents compared to 151 in 2019, a drop of 38% while interventions remain up 30%.
But professionals are well aware that these figures, unlike those for delinquency, probably do not rhyme with an actual reduction in violence but rather with a postponement of complaints. If in general, domestic violence is denounced months after its commission, confinement and deconfinement very progressive, probably accentuated this gap.
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- Violence against women
- Burglary
- Flight
- Delinquency
- Society
- Paris