On September 11, the Ministry of the Interior unveiled an analysis of crime figures on the main French public transport networks. In the Lyon metropolitan area, while crime declined between 2022 and 2023, it remains higher than the 2016 figures. Satisfaction for some, insufficient for others, such as the mayor of Saint-Priest.
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Crime has fallen by 18% on public transport in the Lyon metropolitan area (TCL, Cars du Rhône and TER) between 2022 and 2023, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The number of victims has fallen from 9,900 in 2022 to nearly 8,400 last year. Facts that have already been on the decline since the previous year. And a nuance to be made compared to the situation in 2016.
Crime down
“Security on public transport is an absolute priority for the network to remain attractive. We are pleased that there has been a drop in crime on our network, even if it is still too high and even if we continue to do everything we can, with our teams and our partners, to reduce all acts of crime on the TCL network,” stressed Bruno Bernard, environmentalist president of the Lyon Metropolis and SYTRAL Mobilités on Monday September 16, a few days after the announcement of the figures from the Ministry of the Interior.
More than 250 people ensure control and security within the TCL. Plus a national police force dedicated to public transport.
Bruno BernardPresident (EELV) of the Lyon Metropolis and Sytral Mobilités
More than 29 million euros per year, human resources, surveillance cameras, partnership work “exceptional” with the police, new devices deployed each year… so many elements which, according to Bruno Bernard, have contributed to improving the situation in recent years. The latter does not hide his satisfaction. However, the number of victims remains high. It would even be much higher than the situation observed in 2016.
Bruno Bernard, Green President of the Lyon Metropolis and Sytral Mobilités – 16/9/24
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© France tv
A satisfaction that is not unanimous. “Users come to see us very regularly, because they no longer feel safe on public transport in Lyon,” explains Gilles Gascon. The reaction of the LR mayor of Saint-Priest was not long in coming on social networks, after the publication of the figures from the Ministry of the Interior on delinquency in public transport. The elected official believes that the situation is deteriorating in the Lyon metropolitan area and judges it “unacceptable”.
Gilles Gascon, mayor Saint-Priest (LR) – 16/9/24
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© France tv
“Despite a slight decrease between 2022 and 2023, the number of victims remains far too high and above all much higher than in 2016. Worse, in terms of the number of victims per 1000 inhabitants, we are the highest number in France after the Paris region,” wrote the mayor on Facebook. Paris has nine victims per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to six in Lyon, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
The mayor of Saint-Priest points out an average of 20 people per day who are victims of delinquency on public transport in the Lyon metropolitan area. On the social network X, he is upset about it. “The crime figures on public transport in the Metropolis are worrying: 8,435 passengers victims of theft or violence in 2023, or 20 per dayThe situation is deteriorating in our territory where security is not a priority for Bruno Bernard”, added the mayor.
I wanted to react to the figures from Bruno Bernard who is satisfied with the figures announced by the Ministry of the Interior. Twenty attacks per day, that cannot be satisfactory.
Gilles GasconMayor (LR) of Saint-Priest
“We cannot be satisfied with what is done today.” Gilles Gascon is campaigning for the creation of a transport police force. For the mayor of Saint-Priest, everything is also a matter of political will.
But beware of hasty comparisons of raw data. Nelson Bouard, director of the National Police in Lyon, adds an important nuance.If we want to compare the raw crime figures, we must compare the urban areas, in terms of the number of inhabitants and the number of travellers who travel through each day. Studying only the raw crime figures leads to inaccurate conclusions, or even to untruths. They must be compared to these population data and these passenger data, which are much higher than those in other provincial urban areas,” he explains.
Pickpockets, wanted persons, perpetrators of violence, drunken individuals… “Crime on public transport is somewhat a reflection of crime in general. Except that on public transport, there is a significant concentration of people which is fertile ground for committing crimes. We have crime similar to what we find on the surface, but concentrated in a closed place.”explained this Monday morning, Commissioner Jocelyne Massoco, Head of the interdepartmental transport security service.
Regarding the profile of offenders operating in transport, the Ministry of the Interior reports a high proportion of minors (24%), often exploited by criminal networks. More than half of the attackers are foreigners (52%).
On the various lines of the underground network, patrols circulate regularly in order to deter acts of delinquency which could be committed in these closed and very frequented places.
In the Lyon metro, the 60 agents of the interdepartmental service for securing public transport have been reinforced by around thirty reservists. This is to increase the workforce to strengthen the police presence, which is generally dissuasive.
