Security issue: Pickpocketing
Pickpocketing is a form of theft that involves the stealing of valuables from a victim without their noticing the theft at the time.
Contents
Description
Pickpocketing is an issue that is especially present in large cities, where crowds of people are omnipresent and distractions are plentiful. Although Barcelona and Rome were recently singled out as being particularly dangerous pickpocketing havens.[1][2][3], pickpockets may be found in any crowded place around the world.
Contributing circumstances
Known circumstances to influence the likelihood or effect of pickpocketing, are presented in the table below:
| Contributing Circumstance | Influence | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of surveillance. | Decreases risk of detection. | A low level of surveillance, particularly round-the-clock surveillance, decreases the perceived risk of detection for a perpetrator and thereby increases the attractiveness. |
| Long reaction times or inadequate action of reaction force. | Decreases likelihood of apprehension | Untimely or inappropriate reactions to violence lead to a perception of little control, which will increase perceived risk for the public and decrease perceived risk for the perpetrators. Also, reducing the impact of an assault (by timely intervention) will also be impossible and lead to greater effects of incidents. |
| High levels of pickpocketing in the environment. | Increases likelihood of targeting. | Pickpocketers will travel to attractive locations, but typically not too far.[4] The existence of successful pickpockets in the wider area (a radius of about 5 km), is an indication to assume the threat might also apply to the location at hand. |
| High levels of unemployment | Increases likelihood of targeting | High levels of unemployment are associated with higher levels of property crime[5]. |
| Presence of crowds or busy places | Increases number of targets, decreases risk of apprehension | Pocket-picking is most common in places where large groups of people gather. Transportation facilities, such as bus terminals and rail-road stations, are favourite hunting grounds for pickpockets, but a department store, public arena, or city street also can supply enough potential victims.[6] |
| Presence of excitement or distractions | Decreases risk of being detected | The most significant factor in the victim profile possibly may be psychological. A crowded terminal creates a distracting environment. People are packed together in cramped waiting areas listening for public announcements, watching a departure, carrying packages, or talking on a cellular telephone. The station's environment creates a sensory overload. Further, the victims, conditioned by the rush hour atmosphere of the station, are accustomed to the close physical proximity of other people.[6] |
| Use of drugs or alcohol | Decreases risk of being detected | The use of drugs or alcohol decreases the vigilance of potential victims and therefore increases the chances of a pickpocket to successfully commit his or her crime. |
| Presence of tourists | Decreases risk of being detected | Tourists are often very recognizable and typically distracted by their surroundings. As they often also mass-visit the same locations, these locations become very busy and an ideal hunting ground for pickpockets. |
Impacts
Social impact
- perception of unsafety
Economic impact
Property crimes such as pickpocketing lead to considerable costs in both a direct (primary) and a indirect (secondary) way[7]. Direct costs of pickpocketing come in the form of:
- Preventive costs in anticipation of pickpocketing (e.g. security measures, prevention, insurance fees);
- Material and immaterial costs as a consequence of pickpocketing (e.g. physical damage, repairs, mental harm); and
- Responsive costs to pickpocketing (e.g. the costs of detection and prevention, persecution, support trial, etc.).
In addition, pickpocketing on a large scale could lead to secondary economic impact, but these effects are relatively minor compared to more serious types of crime.
Mobility impact
Safety impact
Pickpocketing has very little impact on the safety of people.
Measures
Footnotes and references
- ↑ "Barcelona, pickpocket capital of the world ", The Daily Mail, September 25, 2009
- ↑ "Italy - #1 for Pickpockets", WorldNomads.com, October 20, 2011
- ↑ "TRIPADVISOR POINTS OUT TOP 10 PLACES WORLDWIDE TO BEWARE PICKPOCKETS", TripAdvisor, September 10, 2009
- ↑ reference not found
- ↑ Weatherburn Don, Riots, Policing and Social Disadvantage: Learning from the Riots in Macquarie Fields and Redfern, Current Issues in Criminal Justice Volume 18 Number 1, July 2006
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Young, David, Pickpockets, Their Victims, and the Transit Police, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume:72 Issue:12 Dated:December 2003,P.p 1-5
- ↑ Primary economic impact (or direct effects) are generally defined as the initial, immediate economic output generated by a specific cause (in this case a criminal offence). Secondary economic impact (or indirect effects) are generated each time a subsequent transaction is made, for example, the impact of crime on the real estate value in the neighbourhood.
