How To Avoid Getting Pickpocketed

A couple centuries ago, pickpocketing was the scourge of cities around the world. From Dickens’ London to New York City’s famous Five Points, skilled thieves practiced their craft, filching the valuables of passersby without the victim noticing a thing. In fact, that’s how pockets in clothing got their start: Prior to the 17th century, men and women alike carried their valuables in purses outside the body; they then started tying pouches inside their clothes in an attempt to thwart would-be “cutpurses” and thieves. But pickpockets soon adapted and learned how to deftly extract the goods from trouser, waistcoat, and jacket pockets alike.

Around the turn of the 20^th century, American prosecutors began cracking down hard on pickpockets, and mandatory schooling took young would-be thieves off the streets. Soon there were few “master” pickpockets left to pass on the trade, and fewer kids willing and able to learn a form of crime that took years to perfect. In more recent years, the decline of cash has made wallets a less desirable target.

You’re likely to encounter more child pickpockets in Europe because in many countries when a young thief is apprehended by authorities, they’re simply taken to a group home where they walk out the door the next day to do some more stealing.

So don’t be lulled into a false sense of security whenever a child suddenly comes into contact with you in an area known for pickpocketing. It’s possible they’re getting a heist started on you.

Pickpockets are typically well-dressed. When most people imagine a pickpocket, they likely picture a dirty street urchin. The reality is most pickpockets look like well-dressed middle-class folks. They want to blend in with their environment and appear as non-threatening as possible to get as close to you as they can without setting off alarms. So they’ll dress in a way that puts people at ease, which means wearing clean, well-pressed clothing featuring logos of brands that people associate with middle-class wealth (at least in Europe) — Nike, Gap, Adidas, etc.

Read the Whole Article

The post How To Avoid Getting Pickpocketed appeared first on LewRockwell.