how the police track down thieves at train stations

In stations, travelers are often piled up, glued to each other. If for holidaymakers, departures often rhyme with carelessness, around them there is nevertheless an invisible world, populated by pickpockets and police. As soon as they arrive on the scene, officers surprise a thief. They then embark on a chase. The man is arrested, after having stolen the suitcase of a young girl, while she was ordering food.

During the holidays, it is better to be extra vigilant. There are many thieves. To track them, police and SNCF agents circulate in the station incognito, like simple travelers. “I punctuate all the potential profiles a little bit, depending on the attitude, the look, the positioning. When there are a lot of people, they are drowned in the mass”, indicates Willy, head of the civilian unit of rail security. The police always use the same tactic: one of them stands on a high point, and then informs his colleagues. The complaint can be filed directly at the station, on a corner of the table.