Minister Says Crime Drops Sharply In Paris During Olympic Games

PARIS, Aug 2 (Bernama-dpa) -- The massive police deployment for the Olympic Games has led to a sharp drop in crime in the greater Paris area, the French interior minister said on Friday, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

During a visit to a police station in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that thanks partly to the increased presence of security forces, there had been a large drop in the number of offences last week.

Thefts fell by 24 per cent and car thefts by 10 per cent since the start of the Games. Violent offences on public transport fell by 40 per cent.

So far, 200 arrests had been made in the greater Paris area, with 180 suspects taken into police custody, he said.

Several planned acts of violence with a possible terrorist motive had been thwarted by the intelligence services, Darmanin said.

"We arrest people every day who we believe could commit an act, but there was no characterised threat, no organisation from outside that wanted to attack us," he said. The arrests were only of isolated individuals, he said.

Around 30,000 police officers and around 10,000 military personnel are being deployed to protect the Olympic Games in the greater Paris area.

-- BERNAMA-dpa