I’ve been to several countries in Europe, and almost all of them have advisories against pickpockets and other sorts of petty thievery.
Enough to where this thread isn’t the only Euro-pickpocket thread I’ve seen on here in the past few years.
I can’t say that I’ve ever been pickpocketed or anything like that in my life- Europe or the US, but I also haven’t ever heard anything advising me to wear a money belt or take any unusual precautions if I’m going to NYC or New Orleans, etc… like I have for Rome, Prague, Paris, etc…
Is pickpocketing and other public petty theft some sort of predominantly European crap, or is it something that we have here, but I’m just not in the target population for the advisories?
There was a group of specialists that used to work in the New York City subways at night. They’d sit down next to someone who was dozing off, then take a razor blade and slice open the victim’s pocket and grab whatever came out. The poor schlub would be none the wiser until he woke up ten stations later.
I have been living in the US for the last 30+ years. Not one pickpocketing incident. Did have a laptop (an expensive one, with about a week’s worth of un-backed-up work, dammit) stolen out of an open second-story window, once.
I’ve had my pocket picked twice in the US, years ago. Once in a train station, once in an airport.
When I travel I’m very careful to store my wallet so that it can’t be picked. Strangely, when I walk around downtown DC I never even think about that. It’s just another tourist destination, except that I live there. I guess I subconsiously think that pickpockets target tourists.
I’ve been an attempted victim of a pickpocket twice. One on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. I felt the hand go in and grabbed the wrist, pushed him to the ground, made eye contact, and got separated by the pushing sea of people. The other time was waiting for a bus at Sea-Tac airport- I had on my travel backpack and a guy would leave me alone (he was the distractor). I finally got pissed and threw an elbow and just about killed his partner, who was apparently going for a zipper, with an elbow to his head.
So they do exist and all three people were definitely down on their luck dudes and clearly not skilled in the art as they weren’t anywhere near anything valuable.
Disney, Universal Studios, and all the similar attractions are lousy with pickpockets.
I got hit once as a teen, and never again. I learned to keep my cash and stuff safe and secure.
I owned travel agencies for 20+ years, and had many clients picked in tourist attractions.
The industry magazines and newsletters ran warnings now and then for us to remind folks to be careful in crowded attractions like amusement parks and the like.
Americans can’t take a joke the same way as some Europeans can. Look at all the scare/prank videos online where people just laugh it off. Americans would sue for that sort of thing, or maybe chase the guy and fight him. Yes, this is a generalization and without empirical data to support it.
IMO someone in Europe that noticed that they got pick pocketed might say “Hey! that man stole my purse/wallet” and maybe point to them for authorities to apprehend the thief. An American is more likely to chase down the thief and either get his stuff back or get an ass kicking. This is all conjecture of course.
There are many, many tourists in the U.S., and there’s very little in the way of pick pocketing reported here versus elsewhere. I’m sure the caliber of pick pocket here can equal those in Europe, but it may not be quite worth the effort here due to various circumstances. If the U.S. were a great place to pick pockets, it would be, but it kind of isn’t, so it’s not.
I can’t say that I’ve ever been robbed or anything like that in my life - Europe or the US, but I also haven’t ever heard anything advising me to watch my surroundings and refrain from flashing my valuables or take any unusual precautions if I’m going to Rome, Prague, Paris, etc… like I have for NYC or New Orleans, etc…
In Paris or Rome, I take precautions against pickpockets. In NYC or New Orleans, I take precautions against robbers. In Glasgow or Oslo, I take precautions against random violence when the bars close for the night and the piss-drunk idiots hit the streets. Cultures, including criminal modi, differ around the world. In other news, the Pope is Catholic and bears still shit in the woods.
Personally, I prefer to worry about pickpockets than about being robbed at gun- or knifepoint or being beaten up because I looked at a guy’s girlfriend the wrong way. YMMV.
Never been pickpocketed except for a co-worker doing it just to do it. I’m working and I notice him looking at my ID, my credit cards, etc. and I’m just bewildered. I checked my pocket and sure enough, empty. I was pretty impressed that it was that easy.
I think we’re just not as subtle. We have lots of news reports about “muggings”, “snatchings” and “theft” of money, purses, iWhatevers. We’re just clumsier about it.
Yeah, criminals here aren’t as motivated to learn a skill.
I think that speaks to the opportunities available in the US vs. Europe. If you have a skill, you can make money here. When intelligent and motivated people don’t have opportunities, you get intelligent, motivated, and skilled criminals. The fact that our criminals are almost all morons says our system is working.
New Orleans used to have warnings about pick pockets. Now they’ve graduated to stealing iPhones. I’ve known a few people who claimed to have been pick pocketed there, but in my opinion, they just got drunk and lost their shit (I have a feeling a lot of pick pocket claims are like this when alcohol is involved).
Well, in that case I think I’m more attracted to my ad hoc hypothesis: that the level of moronity is higher in the US than it is in Europe while it’s the other way around WRT intelligent and motivated people.
BEWARE PICKPOCKETS AND LOOSE WOMEN!
There are pickpockets on the trains in Chicago. They usually work in pairs, one person will bump into you and cause you to trip/fall - usually as you enter or exit a train - and then their friend will “help” keep you from falling, but your wallet will be end up being taken in the process.