“Hello, Captain of Sainte-Luce!” It is a safety visit that has become customary for Mickaël Huet, baker in Sainte-Luce-sur-Loire, at the end of each year. The gendarme patrol comes to provide classic security advice as the holidays approach, which mark an increase in burglaries each year. But this time the military has one more recommendation: “Have you downloaded Vigie?”
Vigie is an application launched by the Loire-Atlantique gendarmerie which allows traders to report burglaries, or find information about thefts in their area. This new device is part of a security convention signed Thursday, December 17 by the Loire-Atlantique gendarmerie and by the U2P (Union of local businesses), CGAD 44 (General Confederation of Retail Food) and CAPEB 44 (Confederation of Crafts and Small Building Enterprises).
– Bastien Munch
Details of the type of burglary
This smartphone application, Mickaël Huet has been testing it since August. “There for example, I received a notification”, he shows, his head down on the screen of his phone. “And I see a break-in from a hair salon, from a computer store too.”
When something is suspicious for an individual, it is even more suspicious for a gendarme.
“The trades are classified”, explains Warrant Officer Despret, security referent at the gendarmerie in Loire-Atlantique. “Like that, when we identify a threat because there is a large number of burglaries in the same sector or the same profession, we will send a warning notification with recommendations. We will say for example” beware, at the moment in bakeries, there are more burglaries than usual, it is mainly in the land of Ancenis “.”
“We will then give details of the offender’s modus operandi”, continues the adjutant. “If he broke the window, forced the lock, if he went through the roof … We also indicate the damage suffered, if it is to steal the cash register or rather multimedia devices. We also remind them that when something is suspicious for an individual, it is even more so for a gendarme. “
Reconnect with the basics of security
This kind of data is of great interest to the baker Mickaël Huet, who thus hopes anticipate attempted thefts in the future. “It allows us to be informed, and why not to be more attentive to what is happening around the bakery”, he says. “Before we rob a bakery, I think burglars are well informed so it allows us to learn about their techniques.”
We relax because that doesn’t happen.
The Vigie application also gives advice for merchants to secure their store. Reflexes that they sometimes tended to forget according to Jean-Yves Gautier, president of CGAD 44. “We all know about it, but of course we relax because that doesn’t happen. And then one fine day, it’s too late”, he regrets. “If we had been careful until the end, if we had a system of lights on, if we had been careful to close the store together, maybe we would have avoided the risk.”
This new safety device could also make it possible to facilitate the work of the gendarmes. “Often we are told ‘I saw a weird vehicle, but I didn’t want to disturb you. But in fact, you never disturb us!’, says Warrant Officer Despret. “I prefer prevention than cure. My goal is not to find the offense and catch the thief. My goal is for it not to happen.” Especially since these attempts to break into businesses often cost even more expensive than the stolen goods.
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