In the interests of maintaining people’s health it should be noted that having anything bulky like a wallet or phone in your back pocket is bad for your back, as it screws up your sitting position. So whether they’re worried about pickpockets or not, people shouldn’t keep their wallets there as a matter of prudence.
Lincoln Steffens (my favourite author) mentions people wearing “watch guards” and other traps to deter pickpockets in American cities. My grandfather mentioned sailors sewing fish-hooks into their pockets, and still suffering loss in South America.
Whatever the pickpocket problem in Paris or Rome, it seems like it’s rather less than it was 100 years ago.
Cutpurse is an archaic term. But was big in its time.
I just spent 2 crimefree weeks in Italy & adjacent. The USA has far more violent crime: assaults, murders, etc. Europe has far more property crime: pickpocket, burglary, etc. I’ll take their kind every time.
Sure, but why not try to reduce both types of crime? Especially go after corrupt police who turn a blind eye to such “minor” crimes.
Yeah, same. Including having just gotten back from two weeks in Italy. I never feel unsafe walking around European cities, the way i sometimes do in US cities.
In grandfathers house in the late '70s, I found a dummy pocket watch case that might have served that purpose.