Long Thought a Relic of the Past, Pickpocketing Returns to New York Along With Migrants
Pickpocketing is back in business in the Big Apple. It’s a crime that many New Yorkers long ago forgot about, but formal complaints are rising and migrant pickpocketing crews are making their presence known. The misdemeanor is making a comeback.
There have been 781 pickpocketing complaints this calendar year as of June 9, the New York Police Department tells the Sun. At the same time last year, that number stood at 650 complaints — and those are just the incidents that are reported to the police.
The pickpockets have “emanated from South America,” particularly from “schools in Colombia that teach this,” a former police commissioner of New York City, Raymond Kelly, tells the Sun.
“There is a core group of people that do this,” and the problem has been “augmented by migrants,” Mr. Kelly says. Even as the problem grows, it often goes unreported because people think they simply lost their wallets, he adds.
The pickpockets, though, are less skilled than those of the past, Mr. Kelly says, which makes one wonder why the crime is a growing problem. A key part of the answer, he explains, lies in the prosecutions — or lack thereof.
New York’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, “has put out his manifesto on day one: ‘Decarceration is the way to go’ is his mantra,” Mr. Kelly says.
Pickpocketing is “seen as income redistribution” by the DA’s office and the city council.
There have been 781 pickpocketing complaints this calendar year as of June 9, the New York Police Department tells the Sun. At the same time last year, that number stood at 650 complaints — and those are just the incidents that are reported to the police.
The pickpockets have “emanated from South America,” particularly from “schools in Colombia that teach this,” a former police commissioner of New York City, Raymond Kelly, tells the Sun.
“There is a core group of people that do this,” and the problem has been “augmented by migrants,” Mr. Kelly says. Even as the problem grows, it often goes unreported because people think they simply lost their wallets, he adds.
The pickpockets, though, are less skilled than those of the past, Mr. Kelly says, which makes one wonder why the crime is a growing problem. A key part of the answer, he explains, lies in the prosecutions — or lack thereof.
New York’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, “has put out his manifesto on day one: ‘Decarceration is the way to go’ is his mantra,” Mr. Kelly says.
Pickpocketing is “seen as income redistribution” by the DA’s office and the city council.
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