Has anyone every been pickpocketed in the U.S.?
 

I've never heard of anywhere in the states where there is a pickpocketing problem. Matters the fact, I've never heard of anyone having their wallet picked here. Does anyone have contrary info?..just curious...

You're joking, right?!

No, I'm serious believe it or not-it seems to be very much hyped in Europe, however, I really don't hear about it in the states. I've frequented Chicago, New York and L.A. and have used their subways, etc. I know people in large cities coast to coast. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it happens-I've just never heard much about it. If you look at these European forums, it always comes up. It's my impression that purse snatching is a more common happening than someone getting their pocket picked.

People--locals as well as tourists--often have their pockets picked on buses and in the subway here in NYC, though I'd hardly say it's an epidemic. I haven't witnessed it but I know many who have Ususally, the victims provide the opportunity, by leaving things exposed and not paying attention. It's amazng how blase even big-city dwellers can be, and then wonder, "how did it happen?"

I am amazed to read how many are afraid of pickpocketing in Europe. Of course, it happens, as Caitlin mentioned, especially in public transportation (Métro in Paris!), departement stores, etc. But if you walk out of a bank in Florence, Rome or or wherever with a big bunch of Lire bank-bills, you take the risk that there will be a hord of small gipsy girls after you. <BR>On the other hand, in Europe everybody talks about pickpocketing in the States, esp. NYC subway. What about that? There is no need to panic, just be alert. I always say "where tourists are, pickpockets are not far".

Well, you see, there is one substantial difference between the street criminals here in the USA and those in Europe. Here they do not need to depend on stealth and sticky fingers. No, thanks to the NRA and the wide availablity of guns, they just walk up, stick a gun in your face, and demand your money, and if you are lucky they leave after you give it to them. Many times though the victim is then shot in the head to eliminate the witness. Since Europe is much more civilized and guns are very uncommon they choose to pick pockets. So, the next time you think about this just remember the good old NRA and their position that every gun is good and each citizen has the right to own pistols, rifles, machine guns, bazookas, etc. Ah, God bless Charlton Heston and the NRA, for they make the USA the crime ridden place it is.

Chuck - I think you're overcompensating for the loss of your virility and stamina due to how old and bitter you are. Viagra can't help huh? I hear you and John Wayne were closet cases - if you don't want people suspecting you're gay don't go trying to act "butch" - it only makes you look more suspicious of what you're condeming.

I had my wallet lifted in Port Authority Station in NY many years ago. I was going from the bus to the train. I was stupid and had a purse that did not close - basket style. Anyway, I felt someone walking a tad too close and looked down just in time to see him put my wallet in his pocket. So I didn't say a word, just put my hand in his pocket and took it back! He noticed just as I was putting the wallet back in my pocket. He just smiled and faded into the crowd. I guess I was lucky he was a good-natured pickpocket or perhaps a novice. I've been careful ever since.

I think "want the money?" makes a very good point. While there does seem to be a fair amount of petty crime, like pickpocketing, in European cities, I'm not aware of any European city where violent crime is as prevalent as it is in many U.S. cities. <BR> <BR>Is anyone else? Is anyone aware of a city in Europe that is known for a lot of violent crime?

I've been fortunate enough never to have had my pocket picked, in the U.S. or abroad. But I know several people who have been mugged here in the States, at gun or knifepoint. Fortunately, none were injured, but all were traumatized. <BR> <BR>I agree with "want the money" - there has just been yet another school shooting today, with 2 dead and 13 injured by a 15-year-old weilding a handgun. See: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/School_Violence/ <BR> <BR>What is it going to take for our government to do something drastic about gun control? I'm guessing that if something like this happened at a school attended by one of the President's children or grandchildren, he just might be persuaded to stand up to the NRA.

Guns are not the problem. People are the problem. If we would just inforce the laws we now have the situation would get better. Murderers should be locked up forever. It doesn't only take a gun to kill people. O.J.'s wife was killed with a knife. Some people purposely kill with an automobile. Its not the guns that are the problem, but rather the fact that laws are not inforced.

I was with someone who was pickpocketed at National Airport in DC. What surprised me about it was that she had someone send her money via Western Union, that was the standard then. She had to GO to the western union office to get her money. this would be difficult with no money. Thank god for ATM's! I also got a call from my husband who was worried as an acquaintence was mugged in Chicago while I was there. I reminded him that I never dress like someone who is worth mugging!

Madrid,Spain is the most violent city I have ever been in Europe (I go to Europe about every other month).I was mugged in the train station during daytime in Nov.1999 (I always dress very low-key ,never wear any jewelry when I travel). One guy choked me from behind,2 guys took my backpack and monybelt under my jacket and sweater ( So, moneybelt is not safe either, now I wear anklebelt).The whole thing was over than 30 seonds.I lost passport,credit cards, money,luggage, everything including the 2 sets of copies of passport, air ticket in my packpack and my packet. The police had to take me to emergency because the damage in my throat,I could hardly talk for 2 weeeks.I went to Amex to get replacement card next day. there was a long line up. A big guy in front of me was beaten so bad,almost disfigured, his wife told me it happened to them in the plazza Mayor during daytime too.The officer in the Embassy told me it happened dozen times a week,some people even had to stay in hospital for weeks.

To: Guns. Sure, O.J. killed two people with a knife but consider this. Two Beatles -- John Lennon & George Harrison -- have been attacked, one with a gun (Lennon in 1980 in New York City), and one with a knife (Harrison, about a year ago at his home in England). Guess which one survived and which one didn't? <BR> <BR>Sure people pull the trigger, or wield the knife. But guns increase the amount -- and, I'd argue the certainty -- of the carnage that takes place. <BR> <BR>We're a violent, gun-crazy society and we pay a price for that.

In the early 1990's my Dad (who was a native New Yorker) was leaving Grand Central Station and felt a hand go for his wallet. He tackled the guy and held him down, until the police came. Unfortunatly he already passed off the wallet to an accompliss. My Dad then noticed that the police in Grand Central were whispering back and forth with the pickpocketer! Needless to say he figured out pretty quick that the police were in on it. Lucky for him he grew up with numerous cops in the Bronx, so he was able to drop a few names. "Miraculously" his wallet was found within minutes (minus his cash!)So I wonder if the police in some European countries work with criminals too.

Unfortunately, in the USA we tend toward the bigger, "better " crimes, eschewing simple acts like pickpocketing, although that does occur in major cities with some regularity. We are, unfortunately, associated more with larger crimes like carjacking, drive-by shootings, school murders, etc. But I bet if you lived in Europe you'd be warned about pickpockets in major American urban centers the way we are warned about them in major European cities.

Just because you've never heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't happen - a lot! Unfortunately, tourists visiting the USA are more likely to be carjacked, stabbed or shot than have their pocket picked. Last I heard, the pickpockets in Boston are complaining that business is "slow" because no one carries cash anymore - just a debit card. Also, many jurisdictions have passed serious "laws against tourists", whereupon the sentence upon conviction for pickpocketing is way longer than murdering them for a few bucks.

My cousin's husband had his wallet neatly lifted from his back pocket in the Atlanta airport. She said they had done everything wrong--his pocket didn't button, he was carrying quite a bit of cash, and they were returning from Hawaii tired and talking about their trip instead of being aware.

I've never been pickpocketed in the U.S., but when I was living in NYC I dropped my wallet while getting out of a cab in Harlem in front of Sylvia's restaurant. A man came in soon after we were seated and handed me my wallet back. I was floored. I hadn't even realized I'd dropped it.

I feel that it really depends on where you are in the United States. I live in Oregon and have lived most of my life in Alabama. I have never been harmed or pick pocketed. I have been to most major metroplitian airports.. Chicago, New York, San Fran, Atlanta and have never had a problem. I also don't ever "REEK" of being a tourist. The suitcase tends to be a giveaway though!! As with any large city, there are seedy sections and one must always be aware. I stayed in New York for 9 days and the only problem I had where men saying strange and graffic things to me. It can be a bizare city but, enjoyable if you are intuitive and safe..If you have a bad feeling about where you are or the situation you are in.. Pay attention! Jcat

My son and his wife and 2 children were in a local mall last week and while distracted for a moment her purse was lifted and the perpatrator long gone.

On the subject of Mr Heston... <BR> <BR>'Chuck' has been quoted that the only way anyone will get him to give up his gun is by prising it from his "cold, dead hand". <BR> <BR>I was just wondering what it would take to get some common sense into his cold, <BR>dead HEAD !?!?!?!

Washington DC at Union Station. One of them dropped packages at the top of the escalator from the Metro -- I helped and tried to walk around. Wallet gone.

I once had all my luggage stolen from my car in Sintra, Portugal at the Pena Palace. Maybe I should have paid attention to the the HUGE billboard that said "Beware of Thieves" in every language. If the Duh fits, wear it.

Is this a troll. sorry trick question?
All major cities have that problem. Here in Boston, at concerts outdoors or the marathon or the regatta, the pickpockets are at work. I see it often on the subway and will yell out, watch your pockets and handbags. It's not a big crime so it's not posted in newspapers, nor do people go on forums to discuss it unless they are on a forum like this to say how they were ripped off in Rome or whereever.

Well, the gun argument may be a little emotional here, but there is a shred of truth to it all.
I know a number of people personally who have been robbed at gunpoint in the US. It happened to my sister three times in about a five year period. It really is not uncommon especially in many big cities for a person to pull a gun and demand the purse or wallet (of course, sometimes the gun may be fake, or it could be a finger in a pocket, who knows?). It takes a lot less skill than pickpocketing.

Yet, oddly enough I've never heard from anyone to whom that gun thing has happened in Europe!

Re: <i>Of course, that's largely because there are so few gypsies here.</i>

True. But the U.S. does have its own version of gypsies, the so-called Irish Travelers, largely based in Murphy Village, South Carolina.

As the website below notes, &quot;The Irish Travelers are a reclusive community of itinerant workers, about 2,000 of whom live in lavish homes and mobile homes on either side of U.S. Highway 25, straddled between Aiken and Edgefield counties. They are descended from 19th century Irish peddlers, and some have reputations as scam artists.&quot;

http://www.rickross.com/reference/ir...ravelers2.html

I haven't seen any lately but they are here and some folks would pay them to steal something from a boutique. Most of these gypsies were children and some woman in a station wagon would drop them off and wait for them. Not all gypsies are thieves. One of the Gypsy Kings father', is the king of the gypsies in France who have their yearly fete and blessing of the saints in the Camargue.

I wonder if there's ever been a verifiable occurence of a gypsy throwing a baby at someone, or if that's simply an urban-Euro-legend.

Gotta admit, it <i>is</i> a great concept because what tourist is going to let a baby go ker-plunk on the sidewalk.

Do you people ever read the police blotter? I live in an upscale town, and people report their wallets &amp; cell phones being stolen all the time, mainly from an unattended/poorly watched purse or coat. Crime happens all over the world, it is just sometimes scarier &amp; more inconvenient when it happens in a foreign place. When my wallet was stolen in Texas, I had to replace my credit card, etc, but if it had happened overseas, I would have needed a new passport, etc. Obviously a major hassle, requiring the assistance of an embassy, etc. Also, if you think Europeans don't have weapons &amp; commit sick crimes, I have some stories that would make you believe otherwise. By the way, anyone ever heard of the mafia? What about the Ukrainian mafia?

I live in a big US city, and ride public transit to and from work. The &quot;talking buses&quot; warn passengers to keep an eye on their bags and wallets.

I fear that tourists here are often targets, just as American tourists are abroad. Though I don't think our pickpocekts are nearly as skilled or clever as those I've seen in Italy, Spain or London. In many cases, it's a pretty obvious grab and run.

I've never been pickpocketed anywhere. A guy did try to snatch my wife's purse in Florence.

I got mugged. I would rather have been pickpocketed. Muggers have weapons.

Oh wow, can we get any more liberal with the anti-gun propaganda? (Nothing against liberals but please, you don't need to run Mr. Heston's name into the ground, he is an honorable man.)

A gun in the hand of someone who

A) Is not a criminal scumbag
B) Is not a complete idiot

will do no harm to anyone.

For instance, Mark David Chapman is and was an incurable scumbag. He bought an *ILLEGAL* gun and used it to kill John Lennon.

Let's say John Lennon had owned a gun. Would anyone have cared? No, because he would not have shot anyone with it.

Guns don't kill people. People kill people.

gypsies are not the problem .... you should see the sophistication of the mafia.
they come into your house after gassing the dogs and your home.. you sleep through the whole thing.. they steal your car and take eveything valuable.. coming with metal detectors and going right for the little/or not so little jewelry you may have.

you wake up feeling ill. not knowing what happend til you find your house torn apart, the dogs salivating.. and an empty garage.

True story.. several families Valencia spain (madrid, too, alicante) spring 2004.

when one realizes there are hundreds of people in spain with no legal way to earn money.. it is not surprising there is so much crime, especially when the judicial system can do very little even when they catch these fellows with an apartment full of stolen property.(Madrid spring 2004)

i do not know WHY this is so, but ask ANYone who lives here.

Also, they make getting a work permit sooooo hard.. many have no other recourse.

and not much of a welfare system here to say the least.

we have many drug users, and used to have the highest rate of new cases of aids in europe. one mugger attacked a friend and BIT her (madrid metro stop ATOCHA) to get her fanny belt off.

many passion crimes... but luckily not many have guns yet...
dont know WHERE we would be if they did.

Tourists and visitors to big cities anywhere are targeted by professional thieves. But, in most places, the ratio of tourists to thieves is so high that it's unlikely that any individual tourist will be pickpocketed.

When I was 19 in Penn Station NY a man came over and was chatting me up. He said he would help me with my bags when the train came in. I say him talking to other woman. When I got on the train my wallet was missing.

I'm a bit surprised that experienced travellers would identify guns as a cause of crime. You will probably want to avoid Switzerland, where there is an assault weapon in virtually every home, and where shooting is a very popular sport. Yet somehow those guns are almost never involved in crimes; perhaps its a better class of guns.

I have been pickpocketed twice here at &quot;home&quot;, Wilmington, Delaware.

Not once in Europe.

SuzieC, where in Wilmington? I go there all the time and never watch my things!