Pickpockets target the careless and the weak The Police of Tallinn Cen - PDF document

Pickpockets target the careless and the weak The Police of Tallinn Centre asks for help in identifying persons displayed on the photographs. Young people are suspected of withdrawing cash by using stolen Märt Kõrgmaa, Leading Police Inspector of the Analysis and Supervision Division of the Law Enforcement Department of the Central Law Enforcement Police No doubt we have come across similar requests by the Police more than once in newspapers and in their on-line versions to identify persons on photographs taken from the recordings of security cameras. Such kind of requests have usually been preceded by thefts of purses or handbags and followed either by shopping with the wrong bankcard or as in the case referred to above, withdrawal of cash from ATM. In this specific case a lady’s purse with a smaller amount of cash and bankcards, a mobile phone and an expensive lighter were stolen from her handbag hanging on the back of the chair and away from her sight while the lady herself was totally carried away with her friend. In the lady’s purse there was also her husband’s bankcard and its PIN code was inserted into the mobile phone where the pickpockets found it easily. The limit of cash withdrawal on that bankcard was considerably higher than banks usually recommend and thus the hdraw 50, 000 EEK from the account. The above example comprised all conditions conducive to such kind of thefts: inattention, a too simple hiding-place for the PIN code of the bankcard and a too high limit of cash withdrawal. In this case we also had to do with a very skilful couple of ion by simply playing a couple in love. Photo on page 20: The Tallinn City Court punished Kaja Habilainen, the person who committed the theft referred to in the beginning of the story, with 10 months of imprisonment for the theft committed in April 2004. At the time of the commission of the theft the criminal was minor. In analyzing all pickpocketing cases committed in Tallinn Centre and registered by the Police it comes out that regardless the wide-spread understanding as if most thefts are committed in the streets or in public transport, the majority of these thefts are however committed in locations that could be classified as public catering establishments (including night-clubs). About one-third of the thefts are committed in the streets and in public transport whereas every third pickpocketing is committed in public catering establishment. Street pickpocketing is in the centre of attention for the sheer fact that oftentimes foreign tourists fall a victim to it and Finnish journalists, for example, are eager to make use of the problem. Pickpockets create a favourable situation in the streets for committing a crime by stopping the victim, averting the person’s attention from what is going on. Scheme 2. Scheme 3. Who mainly falls a victim to pickpocketing? 1. Frugal pensioners travelling as tourists mostly in order to look for and buy cheap goods were and are main victims on their way from the port to the Centre or back if they have decided to cover the distance by foot and try to purchase, unknowingly, bad-quality goods at an even cheaper price from the cheap country. These people are very easy to stop, for example under the pretext of selling them a block of cigarettes s at all) or asking what time it is. The most common victims among Estonian inhabitants are first of all people who go to markets and shopping centres by tram/trolley-bus/bus. 2. Fun-loving male tourists who come to Talla cheap price or fool around with call girls, who spend thousands of Estonian kroons in restaurants but being drunk and going back to their hotel (mostly cheaper class hotels Metropol, Reval Express or Central) are sorry to give out money for a taxi-ride that costs less than a hundred kroons. A drunk tourist, moreover in a state of medium or severe intoxication, who walks alone or together with others in the same condition and about whom it is evident that he could have a nice sum of money is a total late- Such kind of men are also favourite victims for certain prostitutes who will go with the intoxicated client to his place and after the client has fallen asleep will take along all valuables that can be found. In most cases the tourist-victim has not paid for the As for Estonian men, such a risk group comprises the majority of the so-called party animals who usually move from one entertainment establishment into another on Fridays/Saturdays and who feel under alcohol intoxication that the world is their 3. Careless men or women – who do not seem to care for their things but carry for instance an open handbag on their back, often so that a brightly shining purse or a mobile phone is visible already from a distance. Such people often put their coat, jacket or handbag with all valuables dangle on the back of the chair in a cafe or restaurant and get carried away by the conversation with their friends or by enjoying the meal. It is not complicated at all for a pickpocket to draw out a purse or a mobile phone from such a loosely hanging bag/co This group can potentially include also school-children who have put their mobile phones and/or purses into the outer pocket of the rucksack and who, carrying this bait ansport to school or home. Pickpocket schemes are similar Pickpockets have to somehow stop the selected victim moving in the street and all possible pretexts will do for that. In the streets and in public transport pickpockets usually act in groups while also independently acting pickpockets might go stealing in public catering establishments and in Actually the scheme of group pickpocketing at entering a public transport vehicle or shop does not differ significantly from the scheme of committing pickpocketing in the street whereas pickpocketing in public transport is more similar to the pickpocketing committed at the public catering establishment. Pickpockets generally try to take the desired object as secretly as possible, without attracting any attention. If the victim becomes aware of the action, pickpockets may get violent, depending mostly on how much capacity of resistance they estimate in the victim – in case of a highly intoxicated individual or a pensioner pickpockets do not even spare the victim from slapping Pickpockets do not generally become violent in public catering establishments and in public transport since they are alone there - contrary to pickpockets acting in the The majority of pickpockets in Tallinn Centre are Russian-speaking men at the age of 20-45. Some of them have learnt at least a few phrases in foreign languages. For example, some pickpockets can ask in the Finnish language what time it is or to say that the person is wearing nice trousers in order to ask next where he had bought them – in both cases pickpockets try to avert the person’s attention in order to steal the purse. There are also some women among pickpockets operating in public catering establishments, mostly Russian-speaking. It is rather difficult to detect pickpocketing as a crime or misdemeanour since it is not often possible to get sufficient evidence about the stealing from the person who fell a victim to it. No name tag is attached to cash and pickpockets try to get rid of other items as quickly as possible. In this case it is often difficult, if not impossible, to find witnesses. However, security cameras in the city can be used for providing evidence for street pickpocketing but usually pickpockets also know the places where cameras have been installed and steal outside the range of camera surveillance. At the same time it is possible to prevent pickpocketing by systematic work in the community. This kind of preventive work carried out in the community embraces regularly published articles in the press, ‘Beware of Pickpockets’ signs installed in risky areas of Tallinn Centre – alongside with also informed by the media. The service personnel of public catering establishments and shops are likewise informed and trained on a regular basis. It is first of all thnotices if somebody’s personal things are an easy target for pickpockets and it will definitely enhance the prestige of any establishment if besides regular service the To prevent stealing from tourists in the streets we have participated in the training and information sessions organized for guides and representatives of tourist agencies. This kind of cooperation with various agencies has to be persistent, one-time contacts in the form of conversations or In preventive work I have also used photos of wanted pickpockets or pickpockets whose punishment has entered into force, wipersonal data. Very good feedback has often followed the action and in a few instances led to the Through more active mutual communication we have achieved a considerable decrease in the number of thefts in quite a few agencies that were facing the problems Photo taken by a security camera in Tallinn. Descision of the Court: two years imprisonment. This 3-picture series was taken at a police operation carried out last March. The Tallinn City Court convicted Valeri Pronin of stealing a purse from a Finnish old What does the Police of Tallinn do to decrease the number of pickpocketing cases? The Law Enforcement Police has considerably decreased the number of offenders The Crime Division has organized more of which both the frequency of the commission of crimes and the preferred time of the received information to time of police operations has taken evidential information on a considerably higher level. Thanks to it the number lack of sufficient evidence for the court. from the judge to keep the suspect under custody for a longer time. It is made possible thanks to the quality and amountcreased. For example, information on hments on a regular basis, service personnel is trained to recognize situations with higher theft-risk and ifclients of the threat. Information on situations with higher theft-risk is constantly published in the press to prevent thefts. *This article was first published in Estonian Police journal Politseileht no. 3 (9)/2004, when author of this article Märt Kõrgmaa, filled duties of Senior Constable of the Regional Police Service of the Kesklinna Police Station of the Põhja Police article is available on