“Pickpockets are often professional, international perpetrators who are active across borders throughout Europe,” says Chief Criminal Officer Harald Schmidt, Managing Director of the State and Federal Police Crime Prevention Unit. “They usually work in teams of several perpetrators: one distracts the victim, a second attacks, a third disappears into the crowd with the loot,” continues Schmidt. The pickpockets' repertoire is extremely extensive, the Chief Criminal Officer knows: "New tricks are discovered almost every day: victims are jostled in a crowd or distracted under a pretext, for example by accidentally soiling their clothes or asking the perpetrators for directions."
Most cases of pickpocketing remain unsolved (clearance rate in 2018: 5.7 percent) because the crime is often not immediately noticed by the victims.
Pickpocketing at the Christmas market
If you follow the police's tips, you can protect yourself:
- Pickpockets can be recognized by their typical searching look: They avoid direct eye contact with the victim and tend to look for their prey.
- Always carry money, payment cards and papers as well as your smartphone in various closed inner pockets of your clothing as close to your body as possible.
- Carry handbags and shoulder bags closed on the front of your body or tuck them under your arm.
- Use a neck pouch, an inside belt pocket, a money belt, or a wallet chained to your belt.
- Don't put wallets in the top of your bag or basket, instead carry them as close to your body as possible.
- Never leave your handbag unattended or hang it up somewhere.
A list of the tricks pickpockets use, as well as several short films, illustrate how the thieves operate .
Source: Polzeiberatung.de
Article image: Calin Stan / Shutterstock
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