Paris Metro Robberies Increase Because of Smartphones

The "smartphone effect" has been held responsible by the French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux for an almost 40 percent rise in thefts on Paris' public transport.

The thefts are a "particularly acute phenomenon on public transport", Hortefeux said during a visit to the Paris metro system.

In November alone, of 2,813 objects reported stolen on the Paris region's public transport, 1,395 were mobile phones, of which 64 percent were smartphones such as Apple's iPhone or Research In Motion's Blackberry, police said.

"Almost one in every two thefts on public transport now concerns a mobile telephone, while 'classic' wallet or purse thefts represent only 33 percent of incidents," Paris police chief Michel Gaudin told a city council meeting earlier this month.

Source: AFP