Swiss village subsidises alarms for residents after spike in burglaries
The Swiss village of Boncourt, which counts just over 1,200 inhabitants, decided to subsidise the purchase of burglar alarms for the residents after a spike in break-ins.
Lionel Maitre, the mayor of Boncourt, said local authorities had decided the village would become the first municipality in Switzerland to subsidise the installation of home-security systems for its residents.
The village already spends around 22,000 euros annually on security patrols, plans to spend up to 25,000 more to cover part of the cost of installing the home-security systems.
The village is located just one kilometre from the French border and 50 kilometres from Germany and this proximity to the borders is thought to cause the criminal activity in the village.
A few years ago the local authorities in Boncourt hired a security company to patrol the streets at night, and also requested that local and regional police as well as border guards patrol the area.
