INTRODUCTION As the world s leading tourist destination, Paris welcomes more than 30 million French and international visitors every year. In order to ensure everyone s safety, the Préfecture de Police implemented a new action plan in the spring of 2013, which places emphasis on a greater police presence in the capital, preventative measures against organized crime, better assistance for foreigners who have been victims of crime, and finally a targeted communication strategy. Working together with the Préfecture de Police are the Paris City Council, the Paris Crown Court, foreign embassies, the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, managers of tourist sites (Louvre Museum, Opéra Garnier, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame de Paris ), and major department stores (Haussmann, Champs-Elysées districts ), as well as the RATP, SNCF, tour operators and hoteliers, all of who have combined their efforts to ensure the security of tourists in Paris. The implementation of an action plan for the security of tourists, piloted by the Direction de la sécurité de proximité de la de l agglomération parisienne (DSPAP) (Paris Region Community Safety Department), has led to a significant drop in criminal activity around key places in the Capital: Butte Montmartre, Champs-Elysées, Champ-de-Mars, Trocadéro, Louvre Museum / Palais-Royal, Notre-Dame / lower Quartier Latin / Bld Saint-Germain / Châtelet, Opéra. This action plan remains in force for the 2015 season, with certain adjustments made in the light of the two previous seasons: adaptation of measures carried out in public areas according to the behaviour of offenders and notably groups of criminals, development of institutional partnerships to ensure information is given to tourists and that they are advised to be vigilant, and finally, an increase in measures to assist foreigners, who are victims of crime.
A GREATER POLICE PRESENCE IN MAIN TOURIST AREAS IN ASSOCIATION WITH PARIS CITY COUNCIL > The aim, as in 2014, is to deploy, 10 patrols per day in 7 tourist areas: the Butte-Montmartre, Champs-Elysées, Champ-de-Mars, Trocadéro, Louvre Museum/ Palais-Royal, Notre-Dame / lower Quartier Latin / Bld Saint-Germain / Châtelet and Opéra. This measure will mobilize: anti-crime brigades, public area security officers, bicycle patrol teams, mounted police and the Republican Guard. The brigades specializing in field operations (BST) at the Gare du Nord, the Champs-Elysées and Les Halles will in particular be on a state of alert. Staff at the Paris City Council s Direction de la Prévention et de la Protection will participate in this action plan. As in 2014, some 26,000 police officers and municipal officers will be mobilized. > In addition, the Préfecture de Police will rely on international police cooperation: some 20 Romanian police officers will patrol in uniform alongside the French police. > Finally, video-patrol officers dedicated to the monitoring of tourist areas will be able to use images from the 214 cameras installed across the sectors concerned. The Champ-de-Mars/Tour Eiffel and the Opéra/Grands Magasins, two zones that are particularly affected by certain types of criminal offences (theft, illegal selling on the street, fraud by false representation and three-card trick games) will be the subject of special attention. The raising of the level of the Plan Vigipirate, (France s national security alert system), to Attack Alert since January 2015 has resulted in an exceptional mobilization of the armed forces, notably on the streets of Paris, contributing thus to the strengthening of security in these areas, which include some of Paris s most emblematic museums (Photo) Mixed patrol consisting of two French police officers and a Romanian police officer.
INCREASED SECURITY MEASURES ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND AT STATIONS IN COOPERATION WITH THE RATP AND THE SNCF LIAISON PARIS-ROISSY: RER B AND MOTORWAY A1 A specific action plan has been implemented to ensure the security of tourists travelling on the northern section of the RER B, linking Paris and Roissy airport, with increased police presence on the RER B line, better coordination between the security services of the RATP and the SNCF with the police, and the intensification of crime prevention initiatives (deployment of welcome teams by the SNCF, distribution of flyers in 6 languages and dissemination of messages to raise awareness on safety matters). In the first quarter of 2015, there was a drop of 39.6% in the number of thefts with violence and a drop of 58.9% in pickpocketing on the northern section of the RER B, compared to the same period in 2014. On the A1 motorway, measures taken against the theft of goods from cars will be strengthened by motorbike squads and aerial backup by a helicopter. GARE DU NORD A new police station (300 m² compared to the 80 m² of the previous premises) was opened in December 2014 to improve reception facilities for the public and for adapted legal procedures. At the station, a video-patrol officer monitors the 616 cameras installed on the site and in the surrounding area in order to guide the action of the police. Uniformed and plainclothes patrols are deployed on a daily basis, day and night, inside the station. At the same time, 2 teams of 3 military personnel patrol the area within the framework of the Plan Vigipirate. In 2014, 3,137 people were arrested for questioning at the Gare du Nord, including 430 for theft (among which 95 for baggage theft). For external security at the Gare du Nord, in addition to operations carried out by police officers from the police station in the 10th arrondissement and those from a dog team, a field security brigade (TSB) was created in February 2014. This brigade of 23 police officers has carried out more than 1,500 arrests since it was created. MÉTRO As in 2014, the 21 metro stations most used by tourists will be subject to heightened vigilance. A close partnership has been established with the carriers (SNCF and RATP), which comprises notably of the relay of messages to raise public awareness, in 7 languages, in the stations and metros most at risk.
LAUNCH OF A CRIME PREVENTION CAMPAIGN IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EMBASSIES AND TOURISM PROFESSIONALS An important element of the measures in this action plan is the emphasis placed on crime prevention and communication to tourists and tour operators, carried out in liaison with the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Regional Tourist Board. This collaboration has led to the publication of the Guide to Staying Safe in Paris, available in 8 languages and distributed to tourism professionals. This guide is also available on the website of the Préfecture de Police, in English and Chinese. 100,000 copies of the Guide to Staying Safe in Paris distributed in 2014. > Flyers warning against certain types of crime (three-card trick, fraud by false representation, theft of mobile phones, theft of necklaces, pickpocketing) are available to hoteliers. There is frequent contact between the police services and hoteliers, and audits on situational crime prevention are offered to hoteliers in the most sensitive urban areas. > This year, the Préfecture de Police has also worked in partnership with airline companies, again with the aim of raising awareness about crime and developing crime prevention. > Finally, a whole series of communication initiatives and partnerships with embassies has been established, notably with the embassies of China, Japan and Korea, and, more recently, with those of India and Australia. Since April 2014, tourists have been able to consult the website of the Préfecture de Police www.prefecturedepolice.interieur.gouv.fr in English and Chinese for: tips and advice on staying safe, information on how to file a complaint, contact details (police stations, and also embassies and consulates), emergency numbers, useful contacts, etc. All the Préfecture de Police multilingual versions of the publications on staying safe and crime prevention can be found together online and downloaded in English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean or Arabic. To complete this set of advice, a frequently asked questions section has been created to help tourists stay safe during their trip to Paris.
SIMPLIFICATION OF PROCEDURES FOR FOREIGN CRIME VICTIMS IN LIAISON WITH THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR S DEPARTMENT To simplify the process of filing a complaint for foreign tourists, three measures have been introduced: > The lettre-plainte (a complaint form) was introduced in 2014 to enable tourists that have been victims of crime to file a complaint without having to go to a police station. These forms in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are available at some hotels, shopping centres, on the website of the Louvre Museum, and at the mobile welcome points PAM of the Préfecture de Police. Since 2 April 2015, the form has also been available at the Eiffel Tower. 3 shops/shopping centres, Le Carrousel du Louvre, H&M and Printemps Haussmann, have signed an agreement to implement the lettre-plainte form, and a fourth agreement is currently on-going with Galeries Lafayette. > The software application SAVE to help foreign victims to file a complaint (bilingual form, available in 17 languages) is available online on the website cespplussur.interieur.gouv.fr for shopkeepers and hoteliers. Tour operators that have access to it can help tourists to fill it in if necessary. > A rapid penal response to the offences for which the perpetrator has been identified, through an organization with judicial authority, makes it possible to carry out procedures in real time when the perpetrators of offences against tourists (pickpocketing, theft with violence, extortion) have been arrested. The representation of victims by a lawyer recognized by the French courts is also assured. Recent developments in case law punish the three-card trick game, whatever form it takes, whether it be scams where fraudulent manipulations are established, or whether it be the carrying out of a gambling game evident by the mere fact that a table is set up in public.