Commissioner Mai Lan Dao reveals the secrets of the work of the regional transport security, competent for the entire Ile-de-France, and which has an investigation group specializing in sexual abuse.
What are the activities of territorial transport security?
MAY LAN DAO.
More than six million travelers use transport daily.
The Ile-de-France network brigade (BRF) has 1,100 officials.
Regional transport security is its judicial branch and has 170 investigators.
We deal with pick-pocketing and snatching, concealment, but also extortion and attempted murder.
In sexual matters, we deal with cases of assault and rape.
Since 2015, the Sexual Offenses Group (GICS) has been made up of nine officials who are totally dedicated to this crime.
They perform around 200 procedures per year.
In 2020, the number of sexual assaults fell in the metro and the RER due to the health crisis.
The deserted oars have scared the rubbers who take advantage of the crowded oars to take action.
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What is the typology of sexual delinquency in transport?
There are three types of sex offenders on trains.
The exhibitionist who goes to look for oars that are empty to be in visual contact with the victim.
We often see them in the metro quite early in the morning.
We have rubbers in the metro or RER during rush hour, between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. or 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., when people are leaving or returning from work.
They seek promiscuity in crowded oars and speed because they are stealthy acts.
And finally the sexual predators who are violent and dangerous.
They follow the victims.
They take more action in the RER because the journey time is longer between stations.
They attack in the evening and very early in the morning, around 5 or 6 o'clock, and surprise people a little drowsy and isolated in a wagon.
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How do you work on sexual delinquency?
We work on victims' complaints which can be lodged in the police stations or in the police stations of Parisian train stations.
We study them and we recontact the victims to begin the investigations.
We also rely on the activities of the plainclothes police on the ground.
It is the officials of the brigade against breaches of transport security (BLAST) who arrest the rubbers in flagrante delicto.
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How do you conduct transport surveys?
CCTV camera images are crucial in our investigations.
It is important that the victims file a complaint quickly after the fact because these images are only kept for 72 hours on the RATP servers.
We also use DNA which allows us to confuse rapists.
We have a 70% trial rate.
This proves that it is necessary to file a complaint in the event of an assault and that it is useful.
Victims need to know that their complaints are being acted upon.
Do you have difficulties with social networks?
There is a difficulty related to the use of social networks such as Twitter against the backdrop of the freedom of speech movement.
We see women filming the abusers.
But sometimes they believe that a Twitter referral is sufficient because they denounce these facts on social networks.
This can be useful for retrieving an image or contacting a victim, but social media is no substitute for the police and the courts.
