in Paris, Lyon or Marseille, the central or tourist districts are the most targeted

In Paris, Lyon or Marseille, the districts where non-violent theft, burglary and intentional assault and battery are the most frequent are the most touristic places, reports Thursday March 9 the Ministerial Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI) in his “Geography of crime at the municipal level in 2022”.

In these three cities, the number of non-violent thefts per 1,000 inhabitants can, for example, be three to seven times higher in the tourist or transient districts than on average for the whole city.

Much higher crime figures in tourist areas of Paris

In detail, the analysis shows that in the capital, thefts without violence are particularly frequent in the 1st arrondissement (Royal Palace, Louvre Museum) with a rate per 1,000 inhabitants more than 300 points higher than the average Parisian rate. The 8th arrondissement is also concerned: at the Champs-Elysées, the rate is 120 points higher than the average. And more broadly, it is the central arrondissements (1 to 10), the more touristy and more frequent transit areas, which are more affected than average by this phenomenon.

Still in Paris, but this time looking at burglaries, we notice that the most central arrondissements (1 to 4) record twice as many burglaries per 1,000 dwellings as the Parisian average. With regard to intentional assault and battery outside the family, they are more frequent in a few districts that are more touristy or attract many travellers, i.e. mainly the 1st and 8th arrondissements.

Central districts targeted in Lyon and Marseille

In Lyon, it is mainly the districts of the Presqu’île which are the most affected by these three phenomena. For thefts without violence, the most affected arrondissement is the 2nd (on the Presqu’île therefore) with a rate per 1,000 inhabitants three times higher than the Lyon average.

Regarding burglaries, the 6th arrondissement is the one where their rate for 1,000 dwellings is half that of the Lyon average. Finally, for intentional assault and battery outside the family, it is again the 1st and 2nd arrondissements that are the most affected with rates twice as high as the Lyon average.

If we take the direction of Marseille, it is the districts around the Old Port that are the most affected by these three phenomena. Thefts without violence are more frequent in the 1st arrondissement (Saint-Charles station, Belsunce, Vieux-Port). Burglaries particularly affect the 7th arrondissement. As for intentional blows and injuries, they are even more frequent in the 1st arrondissement.

11 indicators taken into account

In March last year, the SSMSI published a first communal database of the main crimes and misdemeanors recorded by the police and the gendarmerie. It provided ten annual indicators for each municipality in metropolitan France, over the period between 2016 and 2021. With the updating of data for 2022, the SSMSI also publishes data relating to overseas departments and regions, and those relating to the boroughs of Paris, Lyon and Marseille as well as a new category of damage (deliberate destruction and damage).

The SSMSI now takes into account eleven indicators corresponding to major categories of harm: intentional assault and battery on persons aged 15 or over in the family context, other intentional assault and battery on persons aged 15 or over, sexual violence, theft with weapons, violent theft without a weapon, theft without violence against persons, burglaries of accommodation, vehicle theft, theft of vehicle accessories, theft from vehicles, voluntary destruction and damage.