Inès Zeghloul, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Romain Longieras / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 5:56 a.m., February 26, 2024
While more and more homejackings, or attempted burglaries, target celebrities, French people are investing in security equipment to protect their homes and their families.
Europe 1 met Raphaël, “ready to pay the price” to secure his apartment.
“So be careful, I press my remote control. We heard a beep, it’s armed,” explains Raphaël, who offers a demonstration of his security system installed in his apartment.
He barely moves his hand when a shrill sound rings out.
This is the case with the slightest strange movement in the living room or entrance.
And a few seconds later, tear gas should be released, he says.
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Tear gas, infrared rays... For fear of being confronted by his burglar, Raphaël had an entire arsenal installed in his home, for a system which cost him 633 euros.
“I prefer to rely on a system that pushes back rather than waiting for the police to intervene,” he agrees at the microphone of Europe 1, saying he is “ready to pay the price” to protect himself and his family.
“300% more turnover since the start of the year”
Prevention rather than cure is precisely Lucas's business.
He equips individuals against home-jacking, and in five years of activity, his business has never been so profitable.
"More and more, people are calling on me for preventive measures (...). 300% more turnover since the start of the year compared to the years before. If my system starts to fail generalizing, that says a lot about the context in France. The risk of face-to-face confrontation has never been so great", underlines the one who spoke on the show
Pascal Praud et vous
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In numbers
According to the company Verisure, specializing in alarm and remote surveillance, more than 213,000 home-jackings took place in France in 2023. A burglary takes place every 90 seconds, and in two out of three cases, the burglar enters through the front door.
The brand specifies that nearly one in three home-jackings takes place in the presence of the resident, and nearly 7 in ten victims no longer feel safe after the burglary.
Paris, the North and Bouches-du-Rhône are finally on the podium of the most affected departments, adds the company.
Retirees, police officers, market gardeners... The anxiety of home-jacking is no longer reserved only for celebrities and the very wealthy.
“Mr. and Mrs. Everyman are now my customers,” says the salesperson.