To educate the unwary, careless or merely irredeemably stupid to the risk of pickpockets, police forces should deploy highly skilled individuals (possibly reformed criminals) to frequent shopping centres, sports and music venues, and other target-rich environments and whilst there to steal the wallets or purses of inattentive citizens.
The pickpocket would work with a uniformed police officer who would lurk out of sight until the deed is done, and would then approach the victim and inform them of what had just happened, possibly showing them a video, before returning their property along with a leaflet giving advice on personal security.
This would not be illegal as in many jurisdictions theft is defined as "taking with intent to permanently deprive"; thus borrowing without consent, while morally dubious, is not criminal, if an intent to return the item in good faith can be shown (although there is often an offence of "theft by finding" on the books too).-- 8th of 7, Feb 11 2014 Putpockets. https://www.youtube...watch?v=OpsbHht9M6Ewait... this is the oposite. [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 12 2014] Maybe in a party/fundraising function where guests are warned there will be a tame pickpocket in the crowd. And that they will get most of their stuff back. And to simply yell out if they notice their wallet being lifted.
Some pickpockets run teams of three. The "stall", the "hook" and I forget the third name. The stall distracts. The hook gets the wallet. And the third guy or gal hides the wallet as the hook drops it off as he runs by. Guests could take on the roll of the two less skilled players after a short course.-- popbottle, Feb 12 2014 What about allowing the cops to pickpocket whoever they want, whenever they want: they get to keep anything possibly illegal, and you get the rest back when you fill in a ton of paperwork ?-- FlyingToaster, Feb 12 2014 This was a thing on the news recently. Give me a sec.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 12 2014 Yeah it was in the UK too. [link]-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 12 2014 Spot or steer. This person establishes the mark when they are vulnerable, at a vendor or other compromising situation, sometimes by interacting with them, then signals the "stall" who stumbles into them or otherwise distracts them while the hook makes the swipe. Working alone the general term is "pick".-- WcW, Feb 12 2014 If the trap rips off their sleeves, presumably that will mean bare arms ?-- 8th of 7, Feb 12 2014 random, halfbakery