Credit: Shutterstock  /  Beware of pickpocketers!

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES  STAFF

Professional international pickpocketing teams have had their sticky hands in a lot of unsuspecting victims’ purses and pockets in most of the major cities  of the  world. It is a growing menace all the more because the professional thieves are silky smooth having refined the art of pickpocketing down to a science. Often times, the victims don’t even know they’ve been  robbed of their hard hard cash until they reach for their wallet and can’t find it,  while the thief is long gone. No weapons are involved, no violence involved. Only skillful fingers working magic in your purse or pockets to get that cash, Iphone, etc.  Face it, Pickpocketing is one of the oldest and most widespread crimes in the world! The art of pickpocketing has established itself as an ubiquitous phenomenon, driving crime numbers and affecting the perceived security of citizens all over Europe. To combat this problem,  Europol  hosted and supported the European Pickpocketing Conference, organised and conducted by Germany’s Munich Police Headquarters, from 6 to 8th of May at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague.  More than 170 experts from police, prosecution offices and universities, representing Europol as well as the following 23 European countries participated in the event: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Although sometimes still considered petty crime, a huge share of the offences are committed by highly professional groups, who use their mobility across borders to challenge established law enforcement practices and often gain millions of illegal profit.

-according to Europol. 

While the group leaders use this money to finance a luxury lifestyle, many of the acting pickpockets, among them also minors, are exploited “foot soldiers” and not seldom victims of trafficking of human beings, Europol said.  Therefore,  Europol is of the opinion that  it has, more than ever, become necessary for law enforcement to coordinate and cooperate on an international level, focusing on the structures of the groups, including instigators and facilitators as well as carrying out financial investigations with the aim to identify beneficiaries and recover assets.

Credit: www.stripes.com / Rickstevens /  Europe’s pickpocketers are very clever, and find many victims on crowded Metro / Subway systems

In an effort to combat organised pickpocketing crime, participants shared experience gained from investigations conducted against mobile organised crime groups in their respective countries. Several operations against specific groups of pickpockets were presented, displaying not only the need for, but also the success of tight collaboration between the European states affected. The participants also exchanged knowledge in several workshops on different pickpocketing-related issues. Among the topics were best practice tactics, prevention and technological innovations, but also more abstract subjects focussing on psychological aspects, such as new approaches to behavioural science. Along with the presentations and discussions, some officers took part in a hands-on workshop that was carried out in the streets Amsterdam.

Credit: Wikipedia / Film poster for 1959 French Film Pickpocket by Robert Bresson.

Chile also sent two delegates to support the European countries in tackling this phenomenon. More and more offenders are travelling to Europe (and America) from outside the continent to commit property crime, which is why the Chilean presence was of great value for the European pickpocketing investigators, according to EUROPOL. .   International pickpocket crews have apparently made their way to NYC and are targeting unsuspecting commuters on the NEW YORK  subway.

Credit: Europol /  The Hague, Netherlands global headquarters of the European Union Police Organization

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known under the name Europol, formerly the European Police Office and Europol Drugs Unit, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) formed in 1998 to handle criminal intelligence and combat serious international organised crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states. Europol has 1,065 employees and Annual budget of  €116.4 million.