Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing is the offense of stealing property, most often cash, a wallet or a mobile device, directly from a person's clothing, bag or immediate possession without their knowledge, relying on stealth, distraction or physical dexterity rather than force or threat, which is what distinguishes it from robbery. Because the victim typically does not notice the theft until well after the offender has left the scene, pickpocketing is difficult to interrupt in progress and is instead addressed mainly through visible policing in crowded public spaces, such as transit systems, markets and tourist sites, where the offense is most commonly committed and where a dense, distracted crowd gives an offender both opportunity and a ready means of escape. Many pickpockets work in coordinated pairs or small groups, one member distracting or jostling the victim while another makes the actual theft, a pattern that has made pickpocketing a long-studied subject in situational crime-prevention research into how crowd density, distraction and target selection combine to create opportunity for this offense specifically. Legally, pickpocketing is generally charged simply as theft or larceny, graded like other theft offenses by the value taken, rather than as a separately named statutory offense in most jurisdictions.