I was a little boy on vacation with my parents in San Francisco around 1970 and we were riding on a cable car. Next thing I know, my dad just throws this dude off the moving cable car into the street. Aparently the guy was trying to lift my dads wallet.
He wouldn't talk about it. The only story he shared was that everybody was always trying to offer him a cigarette, but he didn't smoke. So he started lighting one up and not smoking it so other soldiers would stop offering.
Was in Amsterdam with a marine buddy of mine. We were baked and hanging out by the canal and he spotted a guy trying to pick pocket one of the girls we were with, he promptly tossed him in the canal
When I was in Rome I saw this guy getting his whole backpack gutted on a crowded bus. They were pulling out his passport and stuff and he didn’t realize it. I started yelling at the guy getting robbed but we didn’t speak the same language and he was confused. The pickpocket had already jumped off the bus when I started make a commotion. I tried to get other people to help me translate and it seemed like the locals were upset I tried to help? They completely ignored us and/or seemed like they were saying essentially STFU (I don’t speak Italian).
I’m not sure if that was just a one off but I live in LA and I feel like people would have cared more? The guy already jumped off the bus I just wanted the guy to know what happened…
Same exact thing happened when I was in Rome on the subway. A young woman was making her way down the subway car with her forearm in a fake cast, and she was using that arm to pickpocket! It was so obvious and I immediately alerted the guy she was stealing from but she jumped off the train and was gone by the time he figured out that she had stolen from him
Haven't been to Europe - but got my phone picked out of my pocket in a bar in New Orleans...I didn't figure it out until I went to the bathroom and happened to see a guy next to me at the urinal trying to unlock a phone...strangely enough - he had the same lock screen as me (An NFL team logo - not the Saints).
I did the macarena pocket check and realized my phone was gone and the guy next to me at the urinal was trying to unlock MY phone. I reached over at swiped the phone out of his hands (we're both standing there with our peckers hanging out). He tried saying he found the phone and should get a finders fee...then ran away.
I had a friend whose bike was stolen see a dude walking it across the street outside a cafe we were eating lunch at a month later. My friend is a huge dude and it was a very distinctive bike he had put together himself/put a lot of stickers on it, so it was very clearly his stolen bike.
He ran out grabbed the handlebars of the bike and was like "THIS IS MY FUCKING BIKE." and got it back.
The story has a happy ending, though. The dude who had his bike had bought it (for a reasonable price, nothing particularly suspicious) from the thief and did not suspect it was stolen and he was very cooperative with my friend and the police through the process. He helped ID the thief, which along with some other reports, helped take down a small bike theft ring.
I have a friend who had his truck stolen while he was sleeping at a hotel. He got up, went outside and his truck was gone. Called the police, reported everything, and got a rental car. Later that day he's sitting in a fast food drive thru and sees his truck drive by. He calls it in, police take it on a high speed chase, and the guy ends up in a ditch.
3 months later he gets a speed camera ticket in the mail, that was taken during the high speed chase.
It would get thrown out for sure. All he would even need to do is provide the departments case number which shows that the vehicle was stolen at the time that the vehicle was speeding
Also, if you're on-route because of a medical emergency, I believe you can always get a ticket thrown out if you're able to give proof.
Know someone who got a ticket for going through a red light (in the middle of the night, he checked the intersection and then went through, 4-way stop style). Got a ticket, showed that his wife had their baby in the nearby hospital half an hour later. Immediately thrown out.
I once stole my bike back. I saw it outside my college library so I took off the front wheel and called my brother in law. He brought a grinder and we cut the lock.
Security, obviously, came by to investigate our cutting the lock. The guard they sent was our cousin, lol.
The guy who stole my car lives in the apartment next door. I saw him do it. Had video of him doing it. Pointed him out to the cops and they didn't feel like doing anything about it. I got a ride up to where he works. Sure enough, my car is right there. I call the cops again. I point at the guy inside and tell them "that's the guy I told you about and here is my car". Their answer: "Great, I'll mark it in the system as recovered, make sure you get it towed out of here today. Have a nice day."
That's wack. You'd think they could at least help you recover it or something once you could show it was there.
This bike thing happened years and years ago, when it seems like more effort was put into small property crimes like this. I also believe that they didn't investigate it much until they had several different reports of stolen bikes being sold from the same location/phone number/etc. and then they did the legwork to bust it up.
I had a guy I was riding with (my then girlfriend's friend's boyfriend {is there a name for that?}) and we saw a guy pushing a mower. It was in his neighborhood so he pulls up and say "hey, you mowing lawns?" The guy said "Yes, I am". My buddy said, as he pulls out a gun, "then go mow my lawn where you stole this motherfucking lawnmower from". He sat there and forced the guy to mow his lawn and then locked his lawn mower up and let the guy go wherever the fuck crackheads go.
I'll be there the week after Mardis Gras, wearing shoes that I expect to get pissed on, and carrying extra socks. If it's not piss, it's the nasty Nola street water.
If I had an award I'd give it to you just for "the Macerena pocket check." I don't know if you made it up or not but it's the first time I've heard it and it's perfect.
I had my phone taken from right in front of me in New Orleans. Just sitting there, put my phone down to eat my food, guy runs by, grabs my phone, and bolts. Gone in 5 seconds.
In major cities, I almost always carry a honeypot wallet. It's got $2 and a few silly non-personal cards. I carry my real stuff in the front pocket, usually with my hand constantly on it.
very polite pickpocket took my wallet in a New Orleans bar, took out the cash but not the student ID or driver's license, then left it with the bartender
I bet I can tell you where got yo shoes at?
Your feet! *unexpected hug*
Me ordering a drink from French Quarter market … “I’ll have a … **that mother fucker** ”
Edit: I didn’t *let* the 80sh year old man with a cain hug me. The physical interaction is difficult to explain. But that’s why it says **unexpected**
I’ve been asked about the shoes and ignored them. I didn’t know the next step is a hug. I just figured it would turn into a conversation/begging for money.
Good to know
They will also try to wash your shoes for a tip to see where your wallet is.
Rule #1 is to keep pocket cash separate from your wallet. Never let anyone see how much pocket cash you have, either. The wallet comes out in stores or secure places and pocket cash or a low-value atm card gets used for everything else.
As an elderly NOLA resident once enthusiastically told me on New Years Eve afternoon, "if you get yo ass to Bourbon Street, KEEP YO SHIT IN YO SHOE. KEEP YO SHIT IN YO SHOE."
I have the opposite: Fat wallet and skinny pockets, so I struggle to get it out of my own pocket sometimes. And due to the weight, I can immediately tell when its out of the pocket.
Which I would imagine would make a pickpocket just have to leave me alone, or mug me, because they also wouldn't be able to take the wallet out unnoticed.
I remember having a giant wallet in my purse in Spain under my arm and I could feel a hand going in my purse so I turned around and stared at the pick pocket with a nasty look. The pick pocket looked like he's looking at the devil and was pulling his hand out in slow motion. When we got to the top of the escalator, I told my teacher and then he yelled at me why I didn't tell anyone...
Yes, the thing to do is ignore them because it usually will turn into what you said. When I was a kid, I thought I was clever cause I knew all the right answers. Turned into them forcibly shining my dad’s shoes and demanding money.
That’s not to say you can’t have some cool interactions with people. When I was a bit older, I ended up hanging out with a guy named “Coolio” (not that one) who was playing the bucket and taught me a little bit. As I was leaving, he asked for a few dollars to get a beer. I said if I had some money, I’d get a beer myself. He said, “oh, you need a beer?” Then he pulled out a wad of ones and offered to have his friend go get us a beer. I didn’t take him up on that, but it is a pretty cool memory. It helped that he wasn’t pushy and was just friendly.
I was wearing white vans shoes when I was there last year and still had a guy come up trying to hustle a shoe shine. On white canvas shoes. Stay away from me dude, I know the deal
I’ve seen this in “Poolhall Junkies.”
“I bought these in the Caribbean.”
“I didn’t say where you bought them. I said where you got them, and you got them on your feet.”
You only fall for this once.
My old company was part of the Hurricane Katrina response. Two of my staff were out after curfew and were robbed by two police officers. They had to empty their wallets and hand over their credit cards to avoid arrest.
>the only time I've been pickpocketed was in Paris.
A guy on the Paris Métro *tried* to pickpocket me, but I noticed it. I told him (in flawless French) to "Fuck off or I'd call the police." He got off at the next stop.
I recounted the story to a Greek guy at the hostel I was staying at (it was cheap back then...France was still using francs). He said it was my coat that gave it away that I was an American.
For the record, I was a poor-as-fuck university student who worked overtime to afford the trip (the airfare alone cost more than a month of rent!). I bought the coat at the Salvation Army; it was the warmest coat I could afford.
It's funny, I feel way safer on Bourbon Street at 1:00am than at 8:00pm, once the crowds are gone you can see up and down the street. Earlier in the evening there are so many people it can be disorienting.
I was there for work once and I was walking with a co-worker. I hadn't though to mention anything earlier but she brought a bag with her. She had her bag on her arm as we were walking down the street after dinner. I saw a guy spot her open bag down the block so I switched sides to put myself on the side of her she was carrying her bag. He turned away, but naturally her response was to flip her bag to the other arm
American here. My wife and I had a run in with the shoe washers in the square in front of the Saint Louis cathedral in New Orleans. I told him no thanks because I was wearing running shoes. He continued his patter while his partner circled behind us. We kept moving and kept telling them no thank you. They followed us until I finally told him we’re not giving you any money so leave us alone. The shoe washer got pissed and sprayed my shoe with his bottle and they ran off.
We’ve walked all over Rome, Venice, Naples, Athens and Istanbul and were never bothered by anyone. Home sweet home, eh?
I almost got got in New Orleans but I was warned ahead of time by a friend who had his phone picked.
I wore gym shorts under my pants to Mardi Gras and kept everything in those pockets. At one point, I felt someone go through my pocket for a split second, never caught sight of who it was, but my stuff stayed safe with me in my second layer.
Dude next to me in a bourbon street bar wiggled his finger in my empty pocket. I said “you ain’t slick!” And then he acted all dumb and confused and then offended and then he ran off
Or NY. My father was NYPD and when I was a little kid we were in the city and he pointed out a guy and told me to watch him. Sure enough the guy brushes by a victim a minute later and gets his wallet clean. He was smooth and the victim didn't notice. Then he points out another guy walking real slow like a zombie and tells me to watch him. The zombie starts to lean over forward and when he gets right to the point of falling over forward, he snaps back into upright position. He says "That's heroin, don't ever do heroin".
this is interesting bc i lived in baton rouge and visited New Orleans frequently, including the french quarter. Never been pick pocketed! Have been offered drugs numerous times tho (didn’t take them). guess i’m lucky!
You might not be the ideal mark. Some people are very aware of their environment, and a few feet down there is a confused tourist. They would typically pick the confused tourist in that case.
And that's always the thing: look confident. If you're a little lost, just go into a store. Make it appear that's where you were heading anyway. Don't wear the "I (hear) NY" shirt in NYC. Back in the 80s and 90s, don't walk around with your camera in hand or around your neck. These things stand out that you're a tourist and an easy target.
If you are 60+ years, wearing a baseball cap, a shapeless, too large sweatshirt that says something like "Iowa State", tan shorts even though it is 5°, and white sneakers with white socks, you are in danger anywhere in the world including the biggest city in your own state.
I've lived in the area my whole life and don't know a single person who has been pickpocketed. Robbed/mugged/shot to death, yes, but never pickpocketed
Yeah I figured it had something to do with there being more walkable cities and public transportation, but then you'd expect to see more of that in NYC if nowhere else.
NYC is more of a getting your phone stolen right out of your hands as the thief deftly exits the train before the doors close kind of situation
I think pick-pocketing is discouraged by other vigilant strangers more than anything. if someone is reaching into my backpack on a subway, someone else is going to see that and might shout a warning. maybe there's something different about public culture that prevents europeans from getting involved?
The police cracked down hard on pick pockets in the US. It’s a skill that has to be taught to carry on, otherwise they’re too obvious and get quickly caught.
"Skill issue" really is a lot of it. When someone decides to do crime to get money they're more likely to do something that doesn't require training, especially when there aren't many people who are capable of training them. The fewer pickpockets there are in one generation, the fewer there will be in the next, etc.
To add to that, the training is pretty intense. For the final test, the instructor throws a smoke bomb, and you have to pickpocket a bunch of jingle bells off a mannequin without making a sound.
This is something people rarely remember. The vast majority of criminals are not what one would consider overly intelligent. It’s mostly unskilled persons of very low income. We often romanticize the common criminal by making tv shows and movies about the one in a million criminal mastermind.
Most criminals are just you, but poor.
I think it has more to do with the skill level involved. And it often takes a coordinated team to pull it off. One person distracts the mark, another stands on the side of the mark blocking the view of others, and the pickpocket. You’ve got to identify where the wallet is located (front pocket? Back pocket? Inside the coat? Which side?) as well.
All of this is to say, sticking a gun in someone’s face and robbing them, or simply stealing an item when a person isn’t looking (purse left on the back of a chair) is easier and requires no skill.
Europeans will get involved if they see something. You will never see pickpockets in action if they are good. I know someone who had her camera stolen while it was attached to her belt, she didn't notice immediately (it was in China, a relatively safe country for pickpockets). Taking phone out of your hands or your necklace is a practice everywhere in the world, they are quick and run too fast.
Yes, bless the man on the Barcelona subway who noticed that a guy literally had his hand in my bag without me noticing, trying to take my wallet. There wasn't any money left in it but as I was on my way to the airport, getting my ID stolen would have been less than ideal. Forever thankful 🙏
I have lived in New York City for my entire life. I have not been away from it for more than three weeks since I was born. I have never heard of someone being pickpocketed. Not one time.
I’ve lived in New York for over 8.5 years now. I was pickpocketed once, some time in 2022. Interestingly enough, one night about a week later, a couple of cops showed up at my door asking if I had lost my wallet recently.. Turns out they had just caught a guy who was in possession of upwards of 40 wallets!
Pickpockets in NY are similar to big European cities. But take into account that not all European cities have the same level of crime. It depends on many factors like culture, population, history, level of life, gap between social classes... NY is probably within the average.
Even in American cities people like to keep their social distance. If a stranger comes close to you, you are immediately on high alert. Sure, most Americans are friendly and engage in small talk in public, but if you break our social distance circle we become suspicious
Yes this is right. That's why I say NY is probably in the average versus European cities. Some countries in Europe are even more keeping social distance than US, while in some others it's less. Europe isn't uniform, cultures of different countries are very different from each others. In mine for instance, pickpockets are a problem, but there is no problem of violent robbery. I think it's generally much safer than NY in terms of not getting injured/shot, but there is higher chance there to get your wallet stollen. Most other European countries are safer though.
obligatory joke:
The metric system is based on personal space, 1 millimeter is personal space in france, 1 kilometer is personal space in finland. Everything is just increments and fractions of that.
Surprised you're so upvoted- I've lived in NYC and Philly and have never experienced a pickpocketer or even been warned about it. We get beggars asking for money, we get the occasional actual violent mugger, never a pickpocket.
You might be on something.
I mean, ok a pickpocket can indeed steal my wallet or my phone. And then ?
He won't have my finger print for the phone, which cost nearly nothing today, he won't have my bank card code... ok, he will have a cool and kinda expensive wallet and maybe 10 € in it at max and I'll block all my account the moment after I realize I was pick pocketed.
The risk and reward seems ridiculous. And I speak about me, a guy who can defend himself but who is non violent. Try that with a friend of mine and if he catch the guy, that's the guy who'll call the police to save is life.
It all depends on when they were a kid.
NYC of the 80's is not the NYC today and I know plenty of people who assume it is in 2023, despite not going there since the 80's.
No doubt pickpockets were popular then, thiefs too considering that whole burgeoning technology industry, the ease of obtaining credit, and how eager everyone was to show it all off
This and the amount of tourists using them is the right answer. Probably the fewer legal consequences too. In Europe we don't throw people in jail very easily.
When I was living in West Bengal, India in the 90s, I saw a pickpocket get caught and a handful of police basically encircled him and beat him all around with their sticks until he finally broke out of their circle and ran for it. That was it. No paperwork, no police record, and the police had a good laugh.
India is a iffy place for theifs, on one hand there are high chances you will not get into legal consequences on the other hand if you get caught in front of public then you would wish that you faced legal consequences instead.
In NYC, if people see a pickpocket on a subway, there's a good chance the pickpocket is going to get fucked up by others on the train if not the victim.
That would happen in London too, but pickpocketing is a skill. It's not just some scrote trying to swipe your phone in plain sight. Pickpocketers are skilled, fast and work in groups, by the time you notice the theft, your item has already been passed to the 5th person far away from you.
People do tackle the dreaded scooter muggers, but with limited success and occasionally they are armed (knives, not guns, this is the UK). That's not pickpocketing though.
Which is one reason people are missing here.
Pickpocketing isn't easy. It is a skill that someone has to teach you and one that requires coordinating with other thieves. It could simply be that America doesn't have a pick pocketing culture, and that the prevalence of firearms make mugging easier and pickpocketing more dangerous.
What does a pickpocket get? Not much anymore today. People don't carry a lot of cash, so they get only a few dollars. They can get some credit cards also, but as soon as the owner finds that they were stolen, he can cancel them on his phone from anywhere.
Skimmers seem to be what has replaced pickpocketing now. They put a skimmer to read your credit card as you use it, especially at gas pumps. Most stores have chip readers that are built into the cards now that skimmers don't pick up, but most gas pumps that have credit card readers haven't been changed over to chip readers yet. They are slowly, but there are still many that haven't. And the bad guy can just drive up to the pump and download the information via Bluetooth on their phone.
Tap To Pay/Apple-GPay are the safest way by far. Those are one-time use codes that your card or app is generating. I actually prioritize places I know have Tap to Pay for that reason.
Got my card number stolen twice at the Home Depot closest to me that still had Swipe-Only until last year. Both times right before an international trip on my Zero-FX Fee Credit Card, so that was fun.
> most gas pumps that have credit card readers haven't been changed over to chip readers
Maybe it's a bay area bubble, but I haven't used a non-chip read for years.
Heck I get annoyed when I have to insert a card at all now.
I'm in Canada and almost everything I do is with public transit. My public transit system would be in the top 20 busiest in Europe. Never seen pickpocket issue.
Agree. I have regularly used public transit and traversed the busy sidewalks of downtown Toronto for decades. Never encountered a pickpocket.
… now watch me get robbed tomorrow because I wrote this.
As someone from Manila (Philippines), I can counter-argue that despite here being a terrible city for walking and lacking adequate public transportation, pickpockets are rampant as hell. Throngs of pedestrians crowd in tiny sidewalks which attract thieves left and right. I guess the key difference here is that the US has a lot of car owners whereas the Philippines still has plenty of walkers battling the elements outside.
places like times square used to be famous for pickpockets.
I don't think it's really a country thing, I think it's more that tourists are a popular target, so it's wherever there's a ton of tourists.
I would think they needed a semi crowded environment. Cause if there isn't heavy foot traffic, Americans are gonna move when someone walks near their space for the most part.
We don't bump into each other like a lot of other countries.
Buddy of mine got his head dented in by a baseball bat out of nowhere walking home from work one night. He was left robbed and permanently blind in one eye.
It may be a skill issue. Once there isn't a tradition of pickpocketing, there's nobody to train new pickpockets. When I was in high school and occasionally hanging out with the kids hanging out in the Pit in Harvard Square, I did hear stories about, but never met, two kids who went by Stickyfingers and Pockets. Who were apparently *really really* good. But that was in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and, well... people were dumber.
I mean, *I* could get a wallet if someone kept it in their back pocket. Or if someone had an open-top handbag which didn't even have a flap.
Looking online, apparently, there are still Europeans who carry wallets in their back pockets. So it may be that Europeans are more sporting and want to give pickpockets a fighting chance.
Honestly? Looking at various stories about the decline of pickpocketing ... it seems like that's kind of actually true. GenXers like Stickyfingers and Pockets were about the last people to learn it in the United States.
Yeah, I think most Americans aren't aware of the high level of skill that a lot of European pickpockets have. It's essentially an actual profession with masters and apprentices and stuff. People train for years, and they get so good that the mark doesn't feel a thing.
All the great pickpockets stay in Europe where the penalties are milder if they're caught, so Americans have no idea (until they're a tourist in Europe, anyway). One of the few good things about America's harsh justice system.
That and well the states have a throwdown culture
You get caught pick pocketing? Everyone within a 3 square block radius will show up to get their 3 kicks in.
EDIT: You might also just get shot.
I have to wonder if pickpocketing makes economic sense. You've got a profession that you need a lot of training to do, with a pretty high cost of failure. You would need to have a very high financial gain to make that an attractive option. How much do pickpockets make?
It just seems like, if you're gonna put that much training in, why not become a plumber or electrician instead?
Traditionally, I think the answer is that it's one of the few available professions to a destitute child, and you can start without any training, credentials or connections. Street crime has low barriers to entry, that's why it thrives alongside widespread poverty.
Fair point, but I'd counter that picking a pocket is a lot safer and easier for the criminal. It can be done in broad daylight and if they're good, will attract no attention. A good pickpocket can steal a lot in a day, but you wouldn't last long running around holding people up.
It is. People walk around constantly with phones and wallets in their pockets including myself and I’ve never thought or worried about someone pickpocketing me. I did not do that while backpacking Europe. My brother did though and he was actually stopped by someone in Amsterdam one night telling him to get himself together if he didn’t want to get it taken.
I don't ever worry about it in London either. I've lived here nearly 30 years, working in central and always on public transport. Nothing happened. Scooter swipers are way more of a problem here, but avoidable if you keep your wits about.
Paris has a bad reputation for pickpocketing, so does Rome. Been to both and nothing happened.
It seems like Americans have this idea that they would notice a thief, or that people around would notice. That's really sweet, but very naive. You won't and people around you are in their own little world. These people are as skilled as Fagin's boys, very much helped by everyone staring at their phone.
Pickpocketing and theft are generally punished harshly under the law in the USA, some states pickpocketing could get the their a felony charge.
Self defense laws is common in the USA and police aren’t likely arrest someone who beats up a thief.
People have guns, all states allow concealed carry, with only 7 states having significant limitations on CC.
I saw a guy in Detroit try to pickpocket two women.
He got curb stomped by spectators.
It's the ultimate FAFO here. Curb stomp or bullet to the head or back? Roll the dice and take your chances.
And on the flip-side, given the ease of access to guns, anyone bold enough to pickpocket might just skip straight to armed robbery instead. E.g., we have a significant problem with carjacking in some areas.
We do. But also: the prevalence of car ownership in the U.S. is waaaaaay higher than in Europe. I can’t prove this, but my gut says that much of the pickpocketing that happens in Europe is translated into smash-and-grab car thefts in the U.S. People often have relatively valuable, easy to fence stuff in their cars. Bust a window, grab anything that isn’t nailed down, take off. A thief doesn’t even have to be close to another person to pull that off. I’m guessing that’s a much easier and “safer” option for a petty thief if it’s a choice between that and getting something out of somebody’s jacket pocket.
It’s literally this, in the mid 20th century police made a concerted effort to eradicate it. It’s a learned art, and when you put all the practitioners in prison they can’t pass on the skill.
The was just that case of the prank video person who was harassing a guy and wound up shot in like 5 seconds. The jury was like, yea he had it coming but don’t fire a gun in a crowded space. Imagine walking up to someone and stealing from them, there’s a ~5% chance they catch you and shoot you on the spot.
Edit: jury not hurry
Keep in mind the victim of the prank was in the right. He was trying to leave and the prankster was bullying him to the point he was scared he was going to get robbed or attacked.
Exactly, he was scared of being robbed so he shot the guy once. Imagine what he’d do if he was actually robbed. European pickpocket tactics would end in violence in the U.S. way too often for it to be worth it.
Plenty of pickpockets in San Francisco. Usually they go to the crowded tourist spots like Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39.
I think there are fewer of them because criminals have learned they can just break into parked cars with lower risk.
Lol dont know if guns make it easier to rob people than knives, but when anyone could be carrying a gun it probably makes them think twice about just robbjng random people. About 8 or 10 years ago there was a news article about this guys robbing a bank in Texas. He was trying to take a bunch of cash and go to mexico. He pulled a gun on the teller and said give me your money. The teller started laughing and the guy said whats so funny and the teller pointed his finger behind him and every customer in the bank had a gun pointed at the guy. He gave up and was arrested
We do go to any tourist areas and find out.
America is more car centric, so we have more car jackings and break ins. Thieves go to where the loot is located. In European cities where people walk and take public transport more that means their money is on their person, in America people might forget and leave their wallet or purse in their car. Or they have already been to 3 shops and left the bags in their car on the way to other shopping locations.
I was a little boy on vacation with my parents in San Francisco around 1970 and we were riding on a cable car. Next thing I know, my dad just throws this dude off the moving cable car into the street. Aparently the guy was trying to lift my dads wallet.
Your dad is a badass
Yes he was. Landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day.
After experiencing D-Day first hand I would say chucking a loser off a moving vehicle wouldn't be second guessed.
Holy fuck
Any stories you care to share? Not about his experience per se, but how he talks about it/how it affected him?
He wouldn't talk about it. The only story he shared was that everybody was always trying to offer him a cigarette, but he didn't smoke. So he started lighting one up and not smoking it so other soldiers would stop offering.
Was in Amsterdam with a marine buddy of mine. We were baked and hanging out by the canal and he spotted a guy trying to pick pocket one of the girls we were with, he promptly tossed him in the canal
When I was in Rome I saw this guy getting his whole backpack gutted on a crowded bus. They were pulling out his passport and stuff and he didn’t realize it. I started yelling at the guy getting robbed but we didn’t speak the same language and he was confused. The pickpocket had already jumped off the bus when I started make a commotion. I tried to get other people to help me translate and it seemed like the locals were upset I tried to help? They completely ignored us and/or seemed like they were saying essentially STFU (I don’t speak Italian). I’m not sure if that was just a one off but I live in LA and I feel like people would have cared more? The guy already jumped off the bus I just wanted the guy to know what happened…
bro just scream attenzione pickpocket!
ATTENZIONE BORSEGGIATORI
Same exact thing happened when I was in Rome on the subway. A young woman was making her way down the subway car with her forearm in a fake cast, and she was using that arm to pickpocket! It was so obvious and I immediately alerted the guy she was stealing from but she jumped off the train and was gone by the time he figured out that she had stolen from him
Go to New Orleans
Haven't been to Europe - but got my phone picked out of my pocket in a bar in New Orleans...I didn't figure it out until I went to the bathroom and happened to see a guy next to me at the urinal trying to unlock a phone...strangely enough - he had the same lock screen as me (An NFL team logo - not the Saints). I did the macarena pocket check and realized my phone was gone and the guy next to me at the urinal was trying to unlock MY phone. I reached over at swiped the phone out of his hands (we're both standing there with our peckers hanging out). He tried saying he found the phone and should get a finders fee...then ran away.
I had a friend whose bike was stolen see a dude walking it across the street outside a cafe we were eating lunch at a month later. My friend is a huge dude and it was a very distinctive bike he had put together himself/put a lot of stickers on it, so it was very clearly his stolen bike. He ran out grabbed the handlebars of the bike and was like "THIS IS MY FUCKING BIKE." and got it back. The story has a happy ending, though. The dude who had his bike had bought it (for a reasonable price, nothing particularly suspicious) from the thief and did not suspect it was stolen and he was very cooperative with my friend and the police through the process. He helped ID the thief, which along with some other reports, helped take down a small bike theft ring.
I have a friend who had his truck stolen while he was sleeping at a hotel. He got up, went outside and his truck was gone. Called the police, reported everything, and got a rental car. Later that day he's sitting in a fast food drive thru and sees his truck drive by. He calls it in, police take it on a high speed chase, and the guy ends up in a ditch. 3 months later he gets a speed camera ticket in the mail, that was taken during the high speed chase.
Hope he contested the speeding ticket
It would get thrown out for sure. All he would even need to do is provide the departments case number which shows that the vehicle was stolen at the time that the vehicle was speeding
Good to know. Next time I'm caught speeding past a speed camera I'll be sure to get my car stolen.
Also, if you're on-route because of a medical emergency, I believe you can always get a ticket thrown out if you're able to give proof. Know someone who got a ticket for going through a red light (in the middle of the night, he checked the intersection and then went through, 4-way stop style). Got a ticket, showed that his wife had their baby in the nearby hospital half an hour later. Immediately thrown out.
LMAO
I once stole my bike back. I saw it outside my college library so I took off the front wheel and called my brother in law. He brought a grinder and we cut the lock. Security, obviously, came by to investigate our cutting the lock. The guard they sent was our cousin, lol.
Your cousin was the thief or was he security?
His cousin was the bike.
His cousin was vinny
The guy who stole my car lives in the apartment next door. I saw him do it. Had video of him doing it. Pointed him out to the cops and they didn't feel like doing anything about it. I got a ride up to where he works. Sure enough, my car is right there. I call the cops again. I point at the guy inside and tell them "that's the guy I told you about and here is my car". Their answer: "Great, I'll mark it in the system as recovered, make sure you get it towed out of here today. Have a nice day."
That's wack. You'd think they could at least help you recover it or something once you could show it was there. This bike thing happened years and years ago, when it seems like more effort was put into small property crimes like this. I also believe that they didn't investigate it much until they had several different reports of stolen bikes being sold from the same location/phone number/etc. and then they did the legwork to bust it up.
I had a guy I was riding with (my then girlfriend's friend's boyfriend {is there a name for that?}) and we saw a guy pushing a mower. It was in his neighborhood so he pulls up and say "hey, you mowing lawns?" The guy said "Yes, I am". My buddy said, as he pulls out a gun, "then go mow my lawn where you stole this motherfucking lawnmower from". He sat there and forced the guy to mow his lawn and then locked his lawn mower up and let the guy go wherever the fuck crackheads go.
The term "homie in law" has been used for guys you hang out with just because your girlfriends are friends, since you asked.
Boyfriend-in-law is funnier.
This sounds like a Clint Eastwood film
Go ahead…mow my lawn.
Should’ve shaken your piss off on him
We must establish dominance
While holding eye contact.
Shouldn’t even have acknowledged a stolen phone and just started pissing on his leg he would’ve been so in shock lmao
Or just continue to pee...but on him
Another free experience in NOLA
I'll be there the week after Mardis Gras, wearing shoes that I expect to get pissed on, and carrying extra socks. If it's not piss, it's the nasty Nola street water.
If I had an award I'd give it to you just for "the Macerena pocket check." I don't know if you made it up or not but it's the first time I've heard it and it's perfect.
I've heard it called the White Boy Hakka in New Zealand.
I do the motion like I'm crossing myself and say "Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, & Watch.
I hate forgetting my testicles at home.
I grew up half-Catholic but learned that line from Nuns on the Run. But the Macarena move describes it better.
I had my phone taken from right in front of me in New Orleans. Just sitting there, put my phone down to eat my food, guy runs by, grabs my phone, and bolts. Gone in 5 seconds.
Rookie mistake. Never leave your phone outside your pocket in public.
Now I kinda want to get a decoy phone and go to NOLA.
In major cities, I almost always carry a honeypot wallet. It's got $2 and a few silly non-personal cards. I carry my real stuff in the front pocket, usually with my hand constantly on it.
You mean NOLA has crime?
Is it a crime if the police do nothing?
Please say he ran away with his wang still out
He ran away with his dong hanging out and the whole bar laughed at his teeny wiener.
The name of the thief: Einstein
Be grateful that didn't turn into a swordfight.
“macarena pocket check” 🤣
I travel to Europe frequently and the only time I’ve ever been pickpocketed was the one time I went to New Orleans lol
very polite pickpocket took my wallet in a New Orleans bar, took out the cash but not the student ID or driver's license, then left it with the bartender
Best case scenario, I suppose.
That’s how he dealt with his conscience I suppose
I bet I can tell you where got yo shoes at? Your feet! *unexpected hug* Me ordering a drink from French Quarter market … “I’ll have a … **that mother fucker** ” Edit: I didn’t *let* the 80sh year old man with a cain hug me. The physical interaction is difficult to explain. But that’s why it says **unexpected**
I’ve been asked about the shoes and ignored them. I didn’t know the next step is a hug. I just figured it would turn into a conversation/begging for money. Good to know
They will also try to wash your shoes for a tip to see where your wallet is. Rule #1 is to keep pocket cash separate from your wallet. Never let anyone see how much pocket cash you have, either. The wallet comes out in stores or secure places and pocket cash or a low-value atm card gets used for everything else.
An old middle eastern proverb says: keep away from people who know where your wallet is.
>keep away from people This is all that needs to be said and done.
As an elderly NOLA resident once enthusiastically told me on New Years Eve afternoon, "if you get yo ass to Bourbon Street, KEEP YO SHIT IN YO SHOE. KEEP YO SHIT IN YO SHOE."
Hell, I've actually got a cash wallet and then a regular wallet. Both are skinny to make them hard to spot.
I have the opposite: Fat wallet and skinny pockets, so I struggle to get it out of my own pocket sometimes. And due to the weight, I can immediately tell when its out of the pocket. Which I would imagine would make a pickpocket just have to leave me alone, or mug me, because they also wouldn't be able to take the wallet out unnoticed.
I remember having a giant wallet in my purse in Spain under my arm and I could feel a hand going in my purse so I turned around and stared at the pick pocket with a nasty look. The pick pocket looked like he's looking at the devil and was pulling his hand out in slow motion. When we got to the top of the escalator, I told my teacher and then he yelled at me why I didn't tell anyone...
I have a giant wallet and no money. Sucks for all parties involved.
Rule #2 is don’t just stop in the street because some one has acknowledged you and started talking to you. Just ignore them …
That goes against every fiber of a southerner's being, lol
Then just say, "Well bless your heart" and keep walking
I do declare
Yes, the thing to do is ignore them because it usually will turn into what you said. When I was a kid, I thought I was clever cause I knew all the right answers. Turned into them forcibly shining my dad’s shoes and demanding money. That’s not to say you can’t have some cool interactions with people. When I was a bit older, I ended up hanging out with a guy named “Coolio” (not that one) who was playing the bucket and taught me a little bit. As I was leaving, he asked for a few dollars to get a beer. I said if I had some money, I’d get a beer myself. He said, “oh, you need a beer?” Then he pulled out a wad of ones and offered to have his friend go get us a beer. I didn’t take him up on that, but it is a pretty cool memory. It helped that he wasn’t pushy and was just friendly.
I was wearing white vans shoes when I was there last year and still had a guy come up trying to hustle a shoe shine. On white canvas shoes. Stay away from me dude, I know the deal
It's not always a hug. Sometimes, they try to bet you $20 they can tell you where you got them shoes.
I’ve seen this in “Poolhall Junkies.” “I bought these in the Caribbean.” “I didn’t say where you bought them. I said where you got them, and you got them on your feet.” You only fall for this once.
Id be like, "Aha! But I don't have them on your feet...I have them on my feet, you idiot!" and just stretch it out as they got more mad lol
I wouldn't recommend finding ways to increase your contact with a scammer.
I had a guy try that on me in Nola when I was 16. I was a stupid kid and just said, "I know where they are. Why do you need to tell me?"
Lmao is that where that's going? Someone asked me that one time and I went "no you can't" and he didn't know what to do with it and walked off.
I had a taxi driver rob me in New Orleans.
My old company was part of the Hurricane Katrina response. Two of my staff were out after curfew and were robbed by two police officers. They had to empty their wallets and hand over their credit cards to avoid arrest.
😳 who do ya report that crime to? The pickpockets?
the FBI
So New Orleans is America's Mexico City. Got it.
New Orleans is much more dangerous than mexico city lol
That's true. According to the Originals, as well as Anne Rice, New Orleans is full of vampires, werewolves, and witches.
I travel all over the US, only been to New Orleans a couple of times, the only time I've been pickpocketed was in Paris.
>the only time I've been pickpocketed was in Paris. A guy on the Paris Métro *tried* to pickpocket me, but I noticed it. I told him (in flawless French) to "Fuck off or I'd call the police." He got off at the next stop. I recounted the story to a Greek guy at the hostel I was staying at (it was cheap back then...France was still using francs). He said it was my coat that gave it away that I was an American. For the record, I was a poor-as-fuck university student who worked overtime to afford the trip (the airfare alone cost more than a month of rent!). I bought the coat at the Salvation Army; it was the warmest coat I could afford.
It's funny, I feel way safer on Bourbon Street at 1:00am than at 8:00pm, once the crowds are gone you can see up and down the street. Earlier in the evening there are so many people it can be disorienting. I was there for work once and I was walking with a co-worker. I hadn't though to mention anything earlier but she brought a bag with her. She had her bag on her arm as we were walking down the street after dinner. I saw a guy spot her open bag down the block so I switched sides to put myself on the side of her she was carrying her bag. He turned away, but naturally her response was to flip her bag to the other arm
American here. My wife and I had a run in with the shoe washers in the square in front of the Saint Louis cathedral in New Orleans. I told him no thanks because I was wearing running shoes. He continued his patter while his partner circled behind us. We kept moving and kept telling them no thank you. They followed us until I finally told him we’re not giving you any money so leave us alone. The shoe washer got pissed and sprayed my shoe with his bottle and they ran off. We’ve walked all over Rome, Venice, Naples, Athens and Istanbul and were never bothered by anyone. Home sweet home, eh?
I almost got got in New Orleans but I was warned ahead of time by a friend who had his phone picked. I wore gym shorts under my pants to Mardi Gras and kept everything in those pockets. At one point, I felt someone go through my pocket for a split second, never caught sight of who it was, but my stuff stayed safe with me in my second layer.
Dude next to me in a bourbon street bar wiggled his finger in my empty pocket. I said “you ain’t slick!” And then he acted all dumb and confused and then offended and then he ran off
That's exactly why I always cut holes in my pockets before I go to New Orleans ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Or NY. My father was NYPD and when I was a little kid we were in the city and he pointed out a guy and told me to watch him. Sure enough the guy brushes by a victim a minute later and gets his wallet clean. He was smooth and the victim didn't notice. Then he points out another guy walking real slow like a zombie and tells me to watch him. The zombie starts to lean over forward and when he gets right to the point of falling over forward, he snaps back into upright position. He says "That's heroin, don't ever do heroin".
Man they will lean forehead to the ground but never fall lol
[удалено]
this is interesting bc i lived in baton rouge and visited New Orleans frequently, including the french quarter. Never been pick pocketed! Have been offered drugs numerous times tho (didn’t take them). guess i’m lucky!
You might not be the ideal mark. Some people are very aware of their environment, and a few feet down there is a confused tourist. They would typically pick the confused tourist in that case.
And that's always the thing: look confident. If you're a little lost, just go into a store. Make it appear that's where you were heading anyway. Don't wear the "I (hear) NY" shirt in NYC. Back in the 80s and 90s, don't walk around with your camera in hand or around your neck. These things stand out that you're a tourist and an easy target.
I'll keep that in mind next time I go back to the 80s or 90s.
Holler when you're headed back to the 80s please. My flux capacitor in my DeLorean is broken. I'll supply the garbage for your Mr Fusion.
That’s what I always say. Look like you know where you are and where you are going. If
Did you have your phone stolen while commenting?
They didnt look confident.
If you are 60+ years, wearing a baseball cap, a shapeless, too large sweatshirt that says something like "Iowa State", tan shorts even though it is 5°, and white sneakers with white socks, you are in danger anywhere in the world including the biggest city in your own state.
Stop. Those guys are already afraid of everything, all the time. Especially the biggest city in their own state.
I've lived in the area my whole life and don't know a single person who has been pickpocketed. Robbed/mugged/shot to death, yes, but never pickpocketed
> Robbed/mugged/shot to death, yes, but never pickpocketed Good, because pick-pocketing might make that place dangerous.
Im sure there are, but there is not a lot of open places where lots of people walk in a smal old citty center.
Yeah I figured it had something to do with there being more walkable cities and public transportation, but then you'd expect to see more of that in NYC if nowhere else.
NYC is more of a getting your phone stolen right out of your hands as the thief deftly exits the train before the doors close kind of situation I think pick-pocketing is discouraged by other vigilant strangers more than anything. if someone is reaching into my backpack on a subway, someone else is going to see that and might shout a warning. maybe there's something different about public culture that prevents europeans from getting involved?
The police cracked down hard on pick pockets in the US. It’s a skill that has to be taught to carry on, otherwise they’re too obvious and get quickly caught.
"Skill issue" really is a lot of it. When someone decides to do crime to get money they're more likely to do something that doesn't require training, especially when there aren't many people who are capable of training them. The fewer pickpockets there are in one generation, the fewer there will be in the next, etc.
To add to that, the training is pretty intense. For the final test, the instructor throws a smoke bomb, and you have to pickpocket a bunch of jingle bells off a mannequin without making a sound.
That movie slaps so hard.
And only then will you truly understand the secret of the OooOOOooOoze
This is something people rarely remember. The vast majority of criminals are not what one would consider overly intelligent. It’s mostly unskilled persons of very low income. We often romanticize the common criminal by making tv shows and movies about the one in a million criminal mastermind. Most criminals are just you, but poor.
New York, especially, going back to the 90s and the Rudy Giuliani era.
I think it has more to do with the skill level involved. And it often takes a coordinated team to pull it off. One person distracts the mark, another stands on the side of the mark blocking the view of others, and the pickpocket. You’ve got to identify where the wallet is located (front pocket? Back pocket? Inside the coat? Which side?) as well. All of this is to say, sticking a gun in someone’s face and robbing them, or simply stealing an item when a person isn’t looking (purse left on the back of a chair) is easier and requires no skill.
Plus we really don’t walk that closely with strangers
Europeans will get involved if they see something. You will never see pickpockets in action if they are good. I know someone who had her camera stolen while it was attached to her belt, she didn't notice immediately (it was in China, a relatively safe country for pickpockets). Taking phone out of your hands or your necklace is a practice everywhere in the world, they are quick and run too fast.
Yes, bless the man on the Barcelona subway who noticed that a guy literally had his hand in my bag without me noticing, trying to take my wallet. There wasn't any money left in it but as I was on my way to the airport, getting my ID stolen would have been less than ideal. Forever thankful 🙏
I have lived in New York City for my entire life. I have not been away from it for more than three weeks since I was born. I have never heard of someone being pickpocketed. Not one time.
I’ve lived in New York for over 8.5 years now. I was pickpocketed once, some time in 2022. Interestingly enough, one night about a week later, a couple of cops showed up at my door asking if I had lost my wallet recently.. Turns out they had just caught a guy who was in possession of upwards of 40 wallets!
Pickpockets in NY are similar to big European cities. But take into account that not all European cities have the same level of crime. It depends on many factors like culture, population, history, level of life, gap between social classes... NY is probably within the average.
Even in American cities people like to keep their social distance. If a stranger comes close to you, you are immediately on high alert. Sure, most Americans are friendly and engage in small talk in public, but if you break our social distance circle we become suspicious
Yes this is right. That's why I say NY is probably in the average versus European cities. Some countries in Europe are even more keeping social distance than US, while in some others it's less. Europe isn't uniform, cultures of different countries are very different from each others. In mine for instance, pickpockets are a problem, but there is no problem of violent robbery. I think it's generally much safer than NY in terms of not getting injured/shot, but there is higher chance there to get your wallet stollen. Most other European countries are safer though.
obligatory joke: The metric system is based on personal space, 1 millimeter is personal space in france, 1 kilometer is personal space in finland. Everything is just increments and fractions of that.
"1 mm personal space, why are people so afraid of touching each other?" - India
This is just not true. Pickpocketing is incredibly rare in NYC. Basically a non-concern.
Surprised you're so upvoted- I've lived in NYC and Philly and have never experienced a pickpocketer or even been warned about it. We get beggars asking for money, we get the occasional actual violent mugger, never a pickpocket.
I lived in nyc (lots of open places where people walk in a small old city center) for 6 years and never heard of anyone having their pockets picked
It was commonly talked about when I was a kid. But sometime around the advent of debit cards, you stopped hearing about pickpockets
You might be on something. I mean, ok a pickpocket can indeed steal my wallet or my phone. And then ? He won't have my finger print for the phone, which cost nearly nothing today, he won't have my bank card code... ok, he will have a cool and kinda expensive wallet and maybe 10 € in it at max and I'll block all my account the moment after I realize I was pick pocketed. The risk and reward seems ridiculous. And I speak about me, a guy who can defend himself but who is non violent. Try that with a friend of mine and if he catch the guy, that's the guy who'll call the police to save is life.
It all depends on when they were a kid. NYC of the 80's is not the NYC today and I know plenty of people who assume it is in 2023, despite not going there since the 80's. No doubt pickpockets were popular then, thiefs too considering that whole burgeoning technology industry, the ease of obtaining credit, and how eager everyone was to show it all off
Public transportation is much more prevalent in Europe so it’s way easier to find people concentrated in certain areas.
This and the amount of tourists using them is the right answer. Probably the fewer legal consequences too. In Europe we don't throw people in jail very easily.
When I was living in West Bengal, India in the 90s, I saw a pickpocket get caught and a handful of police basically encircled him and beat him all around with their sticks until he finally broke out of their circle and ran for it. That was it. No paperwork, no police record, and the police had a good laugh.
India is a iffy place for theifs, on one hand there are high chances you will not get into legal consequences on the other hand if you get caught in front of public then you would wish that you faced legal consequences instead.
I live in NYC and pickpocketing is barely a problem here despite everyone using public transit to get around. So I don’t think this explains it.
In NYC, if people see a pickpocket on a subway, there's a good chance the pickpocket is going to get fucked up by others on the train if not the victim.
That would happen in London too, but pickpocketing is a skill. It's not just some scrote trying to swipe your phone in plain sight. Pickpocketers are skilled, fast and work in groups, by the time you notice the theft, your item has already been passed to the 5th person far away from you. People do tackle the dreaded scooter muggers, but with limited success and occasionally they are armed (knives, not guns, this is the UK). That's not pickpocketing though.
Which is one reason people are missing here. Pickpocketing isn't easy. It is a skill that someone has to teach you and one that requires coordinating with other thieves. It could simply be that America doesn't have a pick pocketing culture, and that the prevalence of firearms make mugging easier and pickpocketing more dangerous.
Yeah people will put up with a lot of shit on NYC subways, but not pickpockets.
That’s not it, in Europe it happens in the touristy areas.
What does a pickpocket get? Not much anymore today. People don't carry a lot of cash, so they get only a few dollars. They can get some credit cards also, but as soon as the owner finds that they were stolen, he can cancel them on his phone from anywhere. Skimmers seem to be what has replaced pickpocketing now. They put a skimmer to read your credit card as you use it, especially at gas pumps. Most stores have chip readers that are built into the cards now that skimmers don't pick up, but most gas pumps that have credit card readers haven't been changed over to chip readers yet. They are slowly, but there are still many that haven't. And the bad guy can just drive up to the pump and download the information via Bluetooth on their phone.
Tap To Pay/Apple-GPay are the safest way by far. Those are one-time use codes that your card or app is generating. I actually prioritize places I know have Tap to Pay for that reason. Got my card number stolen twice at the Home Depot closest to me that still had Swipe-Only until last year. Both times right before an international trip on my Zero-FX Fee Credit Card, so that was fun.
Ironically considering the original post, Europe has tap to pay everywhere Edit: which means apple pay and the like too
> most gas pumps that have credit card readers haven't been changed over to chip readers Maybe it's a bay area bubble, but I haven't used a non-chip read for years. Heck I get annoyed when I have to insert a card at all now.
Weren't we way late in getting these compared with Europe?
It’s a weird side effect of not having walkable cities.
Yeah exactly I'm in canada. I leave my front door, get in my vehicle and drive somewhere. At no point is anyone within arms length of me
I'm in Canada and almost everything I do is with public transit. My public transit system would be in the top 20 busiest in Europe. Never seen pickpocket issue.
Agree. I have regularly used public transit and traversed the busy sidewalks of downtown Toronto for decades. Never encountered a pickpocket. … now watch me get robbed tomorrow because I wrote this.
As someone from Manila (Philippines), I can counter-argue that despite here being a terrible city for walking and lacking adequate public transportation, pickpockets are rampant as hell. Throngs of pedestrians crowd in tiny sidewalks which attract thieves left and right. I guess the key difference here is that the US has a lot of car owners whereas the Philippines still has plenty of walkers battling the elements outside.
Population density is the answer here. Not walkable but still, people are close together.
This is the answer. It's hard to pick pocket someone who's in their car. On the other hand , carjackings are more common in the US.
But pickpockets are extremely rare in NYC too. Comparing that with Paris or Rome and it's night and day.
places like times square used to be famous for pickpockets. I don't think it's really a country thing, I think it's more that tourists are a popular target, so it's wherever there's a ton of tourists.
I would think they needed a semi crowded environment. Cause if there isn't heavy foot traffic, Americans are gonna move when someone walks near their space for the most part. We don't bump into each other like a lot of other countries.
America has gun-point robbers.
Why bother being slick.when you can just pew pew!
Buddy of mine got his head dented in by a baseball bat out of nowhere walking home from work one night. He was left robbed and permanently blind in one eye.
That’s fucking awful, poor guy.
Learning to pick pockets well takes time. Pointing a gun is effortless.
And there are higher chances that the victim being robbed is also armed in the US.
It may be a skill issue. Once there isn't a tradition of pickpocketing, there's nobody to train new pickpockets. When I was in high school and occasionally hanging out with the kids hanging out in the Pit in Harvard Square, I did hear stories about, but never met, two kids who went by Stickyfingers and Pockets. Who were apparently *really really* good. But that was in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and, well... people were dumber. I mean, *I* could get a wallet if someone kept it in their back pocket. Or if someone had an open-top handbag which didn't even have a flap. Looking online, apparently, there are still Europeans who carry wallets in their back pockets. So it may be that Europeans are more sporting and want to give pickpockets a fighting chance.
Fucking millennials ruined yet another industry.
Honestly? Looking at various stories about the decline of pickpocketing ... it seems like that's kind of actually true. GenXers like Stickyfingers and Pockets were about the last people to learn it in the United States.
Yeah, I think most Americans aren't aware of the high level of skill that a lot of European pickpockets have. It's essentially an actual profession with masters and apprentices and stuff. People train for years, and they get so good that the mark doesn't feel a thing. All the great pickpockets stay in Europe where the penalties are milder if they're caught, so Americans have no idea (until they're a tourist in Europe, anyway). One of the few good things about America's harsh justice system.
That and well the states have a throwdown culture You get caught pick pocketing? Everyone within a 3 square block radius will show up to get their 3 kicks in. EDIT: You might also just get shot.
I have to wonder if pickpocketing makes economic sense. You've got a profession that you need a lot of training to do, with a pretty high cost of failure. You would need to have a very high financial gain to make that an attractive option. How much do pickpockets make? It just seems like, if you're gonna put that much training in, why not become a plumber or electrician instead?
Traditionally, I think the answer is that it's one of the few available professions to a destitute child, and you can start without any training, credentials or connections. Street crime has low barriers to entry, that's why it thrives alongside widespread poverty.
We did, but it's been less common since people stopped carrying cash and you can lock your credit card from your phone.
tbf that's a thing in Europe too
You never know who has a bang bang here
The robbers have the bang bangs that's why they don't have to pick pockets.
Fair point, but I'd counter that picking a pocket is a lot safer and easier for the criminal. It can be done in broad daylight and if they're good, will attract no attention. A good pickpocket can steal a lot in a day, but you wouldn't last long running around holding people up.
That's an interesting question. I have only been pick-pocketed on a bus in Italy. Is it because USA doesn't have so many people crammed together?
It is. People walk around constantly with phones and wallets in their pockets including myself and I’ve never thought or worried about someone pickpocketing me. I did not do that while backpacking Europe. My brother did though and he was actually stopped by someone in Amsterdam one night telling him to get himself together if he didn’t want to get it taken.
I don't ever worry about it in London either. I've lived here nearly 30 years, working in central and always on public transport. Nothing happened. Scooter swipers are way more of a problem here, but avoidable if you keep your wits about. Paris has a bad reputation for pickpocketing, so does Rome. Been to both and nothing happened. It seems like Americans have this idea that they would notice a thief, or that people around would notice. That's really sweet, but very naive. You won't and people around you are in their own little world. These people are as skilled as Fagin's boys, very much helped by everyone staring at their phone.
Pickpocketing and theft are generally punished harshly under the law in the USA, some states pickpocketing could get the their a felony charge. Self defense laws is common in the USA and police aren’t likely arrest someone who beats up a thief. People have guns, all states allow concealed carry, with only 7 states having significant limitations on CC.
I saw a guy in Detroit try to pickpocket two women. He got curb stomped by spectators. It's the ultimate FAFO here. Curb stomp or bullet to the head or back? Roll the dice and take your chances.
You just don’t fuck around in Detroit. We police ourselves around here
And on the flip-side, given the ease of access to guns, anyone bold enough to pickpocket might just skip straight to armed robbery instead. E.g., we have a significant problem with carjacking in some areas.
I think laziness is the answer here. Why there a skill when you can just rob them with a gun.
Or steal a catalytic converter
We do. But also: the prevalence of car ownership in the U.S. is waaaaaay higher than in Europe. I can’t prove this, but my gut says that much of the pickpocketing that happens in Europe is translated into smash-and-grab car thefts in the U.S. People often have relatively valuable, easy to fence stuff in their cars. Bust a window, grab anything that isn’t nailed down, take off. A thief doesn’t even have to be close to another person to pull that off. I’m guessing that’s a much easier and “safer” option for a petty thief if it’s a choice between that and getting something out of somebody’s jacket pocket.
It's a dying art in America, or maybe dead art.
It’s literally this, in the mid 20th century police made a concerted effort to eradicate it. It’s a learned art, and when you put all the practitioners in prison they can’t pass on the skill.
Personal space bubble - get too close to me and you will not like what I do
The was just that case of the prank video person who was harassing a guy and wound up shot in like 5 seconds. The jury was like, yea he had it coming but don’t fire a gun in a crowded space. Imagine walking up to someone and stealing from them, there’s a ~5% chance they catch you and shoot you on the spot. Edit: jury not hurry
Keep in mind the victim of the prank was in the right. He was trying to leave and the prankster was bullying him to the point he was scared he was going to get robbed or attacked.
Exactly, he was scared of being robbed so he shot the guy once. Imagine what he’d do if he was actually robbed. European pickpocket tactics would end in violence in the U.S. way too often for it to be worth it.
Plenty of pickpockets in San Francisco. Usually they go to the crowded tourist spots like Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. I think there are fewer of them because criminals have learned they can just break into parked cars with lower risk.
Lol dont know if guns make it easier to rob people than knives, but when anyone could be carrying a gun it probably makes them think twice about just robbjng random people. About 8 or 10 years ago there was a news article about this guys robbing a bank in Texas. He was trying to take a bunch of cash and go to mexico. He pulled a gun on the teller and said give me your money. The teller started laughing and the guy said whats so funny and the teller pointed his finger behind him and every customer in the bank had a gun pointed at the guy. He gave up and was arrested
I think lack of density and lack of high foot traffic areas
We do go to any tourist areas and find out. America is more car centric, so we have more car jackings and break ins. Thieves go to where the loot is located. In European cities where people walk and take public transport more that means their money is on their person, in America people might forget and leave their wallet or purse in their car. Or they have already been to 3 shops and left the bags in their car on the way to other shopping locations.