Video cameras are to be installed around the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris following the harassment at the start of summer of tourists queuing for the elevators by French youths on scooters. In most cases the object was to distract foreign visitors so that accomplices working in the queue could relieve them of their wallets and purses.

Bus and metro stops in central Paris and in some suburbs noted for their high crime rate are also to be equipped with security measures. Known as bornes, these bright yellow alarm systems, fixed on stalks four metres high, in theory will provide people feeling threatened with instant access to an operator by pressing an alarm button and the camera will then record the surrounding area, deterring assaults and theft.

Critics complain that the command posts will not be manned all the hours that buses and trains are running and that muggers will simply wear hoods and ski masks to prevent identification. In an embarrassing experiment, a student paid to test the equipment’s resilience to vandalism shinned up the stalk using suction pads and silenced the audible alarm in five seconds.

From our September 2008 e-newsletter