Paris tourist muggings fall eight per cent in 2014

Muggings at Paris’s principal tourist sites have fallen eight per cent this year, according to Paris police, who have enforced a special anti-crime crackdown at top attractions like the Champs Elysées, Notre Dame and the Louvre.

Tourists at Paris's Louvre museum AFP/J Demarthon

Robberies with violence at the French capital’s key tourist sites fell eight per cent in the first nine months of 2014, Paris police announced on Wednesday.

Physical attacks fell 4.5 per cent, it said.

Thefts from Chinese tourists, who have become a prime target for pickpockets because they are believed to carry large amounts of cash, have fallen 25 per cent, according to the statistics.

With 30 million visitors a year Paris is the world’s number one tourist destination.

In 2013 the city launched a 26-point plan to tackle rising street crime.

It beefed up police patrols at the city’s main tourist attractions and set up a 24-strong brigade to specially for the Champs Elysées, whose shops and restaurants attract millions of foreign visitors every year.

Police from several European countries – Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Romania – join Parisian colleagues to help with language and cultural questions during the summer.

A similar cooperation with Chinese police caused a minor outcry this year and has not yet been put into action because of questions of expertise, according to top official Bernard Boucault, but he insisted that it will be going ahead.