Pickpocket Pointers

Using a box cutter blade to remove pockets

Wise up, cholly! Pickpockets are all around you. You think these guys stopped working in the 1940s? Come on! Why do you think we still have those announcements on city buses about watching out for them? In 2001, $8,665,446 worth of property was stolen by pickpocketing in New York State. In 2004, larcenies in the NYC subway went up 4.9 percent. Care to hazard a guess why? Because everyone has an iPod on them, complete with the telltale white headphones. You guys are sitting ducks out there! Randy Stoever was the head of the NYPD’s pickpocket squad for nine years. He’s seen every lushworker, dip, cannon, stall, and vic A Pickpocket’s Dictionary
Fanning: lightly touching a pocket to see if there’s money or a wallet in it
Cannon, Hitter: a pickpocket
Stall: a partner who distracts a victim
Vic, Mark: the victim of a pickpocket
Jostling Squad, Po-Po: the police
Players: fellow pickpockets.
Hide: a wallet
Looping: when a pickpocket goes from one end of a train line to another, transferring back and forth for hours in the city (we have no idea what the fuck that means either). “Pickpockets are some of the smartest uneducated people around,” says Stoever. “Their techniques can be inventive and daring, but you still see guys arrested four or five times—career pickpockets. They’re usually about 40 years old and a lot of them have been doing it since they were 12. Most of the people I busted that worked the buses in Queens were South American but I have arrested every kind—all races, creeds, and ages. “When we would see a known pickpocket who was on parole, we’d bring him to the attention of his PO and get stipulations added to his parole that would stop him from going on subways or buses.
“We were a really aggressive squad, so we were very effective. I personally debriefed all the pickpockets we arrested. Perps always told me that they knew about us and lived in fear of being caught by my unit.” The 12 New York Pickpocket Breeds: A Field Guide

1. STANDARD PICKPOCKET

2. BAG OPENER

3. BUMP AND STALL

4. THE CUTTER

5. THE LUSHWORKER

6. THE SQUIRTER

7. DISTRACTERS

8. THE EATERY WORKER

9. THE PRATFALL

10. THE OLD MAN ON THE BUS

11. LADIES’ ROOMERS

12. THE CREEPER

PICKPOCKET: adidas/Vice adicolor jacket, 686 wallet, Nudie jeans / BAG-OPENER (l-r): Vintage t-shirt, Crumpler Maurice bag, Paul Frank wallet, JBrand jeans; Insight51 button-up shirt, New York Post newspaper, jeans model’s own /

THE BUMP AND STALL (l-r): shirt and jeans model’s own; Quiksilver jacket, Jack Spade bi-fold wallet, Nudie jeans; APC jeans, Nike shoes, shirt model’s own / THE CUTTER (l-r): American Apparel hoodie, Strhess messenger bag, Paul Frank purse wallet; Burberry trench coat / THE LUSHWORKER (l-r): Matix shirt; OP Baja, Quiksilver jeans, Jack Spade bi-fold wallet / THE SQUIRTER (l-r): American Apparel hoodie, J-Fold wallet, Nudie jeans; clothes model’s own /

THE DISTRACTERS (l-r): American Apparel v-neck t-shirt, Vice/Lowlife belt buckle, Kill City jeans; H&M mesh tank top, APC jeans; H&M jacket, Paul Frank wallet / EATERY WORKER Paul Frank wallet, Jack Spade messenger bag /

PRATFALL (l-r): Nudie jeans, American Apparel hoodie; Nike jacket, Polo wallet, Crate Denim jeans; clothes model’s own / OLD MAN ON THE BUS (l-r): Paul Frank wallet, Nudie jeans, shirt model’s own; clothes model’s own /

LADIES ROOMERS All clothes models’ own / THE CREEPER (l-r): ID leather jacket, Mishka NYC sweater, Nomad Tribe jeans, Nike shoes; Live Mechanics shirt, Medium/Adobe bag, pants model’s own