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(194 votes) Published: Apr 23, 2005 3:32 p.m. In 1 Favorites Lists Viewed 1434 times
There exists in the world of petty larceny a very fine line sometimes between purse snatching and Pickpocketing. This line blurs in the gray area of opportunistic Pickpocketing, also sometimes referred to as snatch theft as we have discussed before. It is in this section we are going to set them both in there own little areas, and further discuss they gray area where they cross.
Because it easy to confuse Pickpocketing and purse snatching, their differences should perhaps be mentioned. But we’ll first talk about how such two different styles are similar, and that mostly lies with the pickpocket’s best friend, the purse. Obtaining the mark’s wallet is the ultimate goal in either situation. Both styles of theft are easier to pull off than others, with minimum risk involved. Teams maybe involved in the crime, or the perpetrator may go it alone solo. Distraction of the mark also plays a role in both, being that if the mark is not paying attention to her surroundings then the theft is easier to pull off. A lone female with a dangling purse over one shoulder is usually the preferred target in both situations. However, beyond those common elements there are some very clear differences. The major one is the mindset of the thief; a pickpocket prefers to act crafty and has pride in a stealthy lift whereas a purse-snatcher is just interested in getting money and getting away. Usually the two styles aren’t performed by the same type of people, although some criminals employ both methods depending on the situation (like a woman with a clutch purse).
Both have their uses, and their ups and downs. It left to the individual and the skills they posse, to decide which of these types of larceny suits them better.
Purse Snatching
Purse snatching is the sudden seizing or grabbing of a purse from behind and taking it away by force. The prize for this sort of crime is the woman’s wallet and all of the other ripe valuables in her bag. Much like Pickpocketing the prime target is a woman alone, with her purse dangling free to one side. However not a whole lot of skill is used in such a robbery, unless it is skill at being fleet of foot. Nor is there anything overly stealthy about purse snatching, except for maybe when the snatcher is lining up his target before he or she strikes. After that the thief needs to be a good runner or know the area well enough to get away with his or her newly acquired purse. You simply wait for a woman to put her bag in a vulnerable place, then run up and grab it. The dangers with purse snatching lie two fold. The first is that the mark has seen at least part of you as you ran by and grabbed her bag, and the second is that depending upon the violence involved purse snatching the robbery might be labeled a felony rather than petty larceny. Violence is all too common in purse snatching, which makes it a very dangerous game. It involves, to some degree, imitation, both physical and mental. The ideal scenario is to get the bag with as little force as possible. However the plus side is that give the surprise factor involved you have a better chance of making off with the wallet and purse than if you are standing beside of mark gently trying to open the bag and remove the wallet. If you have a team, have your partner waiting for you in a vehicle to help you with the get away or hiding the purse. Sometimes the purse snatching done from the vehicle, but this can be dangerous, as can purses whose straps are around the mark’s neck.
Here is a scenario of a basic purse snatching:
Anne is walking home from work, thinking about what she going to fix for dinner when she gets there. She’s walking by herself, glad that the day is almost over. She doesn’t pay any more attention to the man who has been slowly following her since she came around the corner than she does the fact that her brown leather purse is haphazardly dangling from her shoulder. As she goes to cross the street the man suddenly breaks into a run, snatching her purse from behind and making off with it down the street. It happened so fat that she didn’t even have a chance to keep her bag from sliding off her shoulder. She starts to yell for help, but the snatcher has already disappeared around the corner with her purse in hand.
Pickpocketing
Pickpocketing is a type of petty larceny in where the thief removes the wallet from its owner’s pocket or purse. There is not violence involved with this and the mark is usually unaware of the theft until much later, after the pickpocket is long gone. The ideal Pickpocketing scenario is for the thief to find a woman alone with a purse dangling over one shoulder either closed or open. The pickpocket will then open the purse, remove the wallet, and vanish into the crowd before the woman knows she has been robbed. This allows him or her time to do two things, work the crowd more and use the mark’s money, credit cards, and checkbook before she has the chance to report them gone. Pickpocketing is easily petty larceny, and it is easy to get off if caught, which isn’t always for certain since you can just drop the wallet and walk off. The problem is that you have to practice to be able to do it right, unless you have a team, which makes it easier. Just have your accomplice ready to pass the wallet to, so that she can’t prove you took it, or to distract her long enough for you to make your move.
Here is an example of basic Pickpocketing:
Jodie is waiting for the train to make her way home after a long day at the office, her purse dangling carelessly over one shoulder. She has just bought a newspaper from on of the local stands, exposing her wallet to the world. She begins to read her paper, not paying much attention to anything around her. The terminal is crowded, so its no big deal for people to bumping or jostling each other in an effort to get through. This is why she doesn’t pay much attention to the man standing beside her with his jacket hung over one arm. As she moves forward to board the train he moves with her, pressing against her for a moment. It is in this moment that he unsnaps the latch on her bag and lifts her wallet. She is oblivious to this and doesn’t realize her wallet is gone until much later, when it’s far too late.
Where the two styles blur
One would think that despite the common elements involved that both styles would be easy to separate. Where the two styles blur is in the area called snatch theft, or opportunistic Pickpocketing. This is a situation where a purse is left haphazardly someplace vulnerable and some enterprising soul decides to relive its owner of the burden of a fat wallet. It is the fact that purses are often the target of both that blurs the line; picking a man’s pocket would be hard to confuse with purse snatching, except in rare situations (such as fanny packs).
What do opportunists do? They watch and wait; sooner or later someone will leave themselves vulnerable to attack. The live by P. T. Barnum’s motto, there’s a sucker born every minute. Men are rarely the target of opportunists for the fact that most opportunists wait for the mark to do something stupid like leave their belongings unattended or out of direct sight. Men usually carry their wallets on them, cutting the opportunist’s chances nearly in half. Women, on the other hand, sometimes completely abandon their purses for a great length of time. Opportunists rarely take the time to just seize the wallet, and so it mirrors purse snatching because the whole bag was taken. The key difference its that in Pickpocketing, as well as in opportunistic, there is some degree of secrecy involved. Even in an opportunistic steal the mark is unaware that she has been robbed, at least for a little while. Breaking into a car to steal a purse is Pickpocketing, taking the purse from the mark while she is still in the car is purse snatching.
Examples
· Finding a parked car where the owner left her purse unattended, with the window down, and you take it. (Opportunistic Pickpocketing)
· Grabbing a purse from a car with the window down, while the purse’s owner is there. (Purse Snatching)
· Taking the purse from a shopping cart while the woman is off looking at groceries. (Opportunistic Pickpocketing)
· Grabbing the purse from the shopping cart while the woman is pushing it out to her car. (Purse Snatching)
· Having a friend distract a woman sitting on a park bench so that you can grab her purse when she’s not looking. (Opportunistic Pickpocketing)
· Grabbing the purse off of a park bench while a woman is sitting there without even trying to hide that you are doing it. (Purse Snatching)
· A woman has placed her purse on the back of her chair in a crowded restaurant, and you slowly make your way towards it. When you get there you carefully grab the strap of the purse and lift under your coat, then leave. (Opportunistic Pickpocketing)
· A woman has left her purse on the back of her chair in a crowded restaurant and you slowly make your way to it. Without even trying to hide the fact that you are doing it you grab the purse and run. (purse Snatching)
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