When clothing manufacturers first made high visibility jackets, the purpose was to make the labourers who wore them as visible as possible. But brightly coloured safety clothes are now so ubiquitous that they often have the opposite effect, so that the wearer blends in, even as the bold colours catch the eye.
That can make the safety gear a key part of the criminal’s tool kit.
On Sunday, when thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris and stole €88 million worth of jewellery, two of them wore neon-coloured safety vests. Other criminals have donned the vests to rob jewellery stores and airports, commit murders and steal cars; daub buildings in graffiti, and strip buildings of valuable metal wiring.
Experts say the neon items help criminals operate in plain sight.
“High-vis clothing car
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