Crime is declining in many areas, and the inhabitants of Ile-de-France are less and less afraid. This is the conclusion of an in-depth investigation unveiled Thursday, October 21 by the Paris Region Institute, a research body that depends on the regional council. A rather unexpected result, while the theme of insecurity figures prominently in the presidential pre-campaign, and a part of the right constantly evokes the rise of delinquency in the first French region, as well as the need to ‘answer them more firmly.
Since 2001, the Paris Region Institute has carried out a heavy survey every two years on the real attacks on people or their homes, and the feeling of insecurity in Ile-de-France. This year, some 8,000 inhabitants over the age of 15 were interviewed in this context, in January and February 2021. The first results show a clear decrease in the facts to which the Ile-de-France residents are victims, and a decrease in concerns. An appeasement linked in part to the Covid-19 pandemic and confinements, which have reduced the activity of offenders.
Only 45% of Ile-de-France residents surveyed in January and February say, for example, that they are afraid in a personal capacity, against 47.7% in 2019. The proportion of inhabitants subject to this feeling thus returns to the same level as in 2017, that is to say – say at the lowest point recorded since the start of the survey. In 2001, nearly 54% of residents said they were sometimes personally afraid. The proportion of those who experience this feeling in transport has fallen to 38%, again the lowest since 2001. Similarly, the people questioned who are afraid of going out alone at night in their neighborhood are now only 19%, against 29 % in 2001.
“Ile-de-France residents are also less likely to mention problems with street cleanliness, lighting or maintenance of buildings and green spaces, the presence of annoying youth gangs, vandalism, and drugs”, notes the note published Thursday.
Politics play a significant role
The inhabitants of Paris and its suburbs have good reason to feel less in danger. By emptying the region of its tourists and often confining the inhabitants to their homes, the health crisis has slowed down delinquency. In Paris, for example, attacks on people fell by 16% in 2020, and those against property, by 27%. Pick-pocketing has even fallen by 30%, while armed robbery has plunged by 39%.
This lull is reflected in the comments of people surveyed by the Paris Region Institute. Thus, only 32% of the households questioned indicate having been victims of an attack on their property at least once during the last three years. They were 39% two years earlier. The downward movement “Applies to most categories of attacks”, note the experts of the Institute, citing thefts with or without violence, car damage, etc. Only the increase in sexual assault is confirmed.
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