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Notes -
Why don’t US cities have pickpockets? I’ve always heard (in the US) that if you’re traveling to a major city in Europe to be on the lookout for pickpockets, and I’ve heard stories from a few people who have had wallets/passports/phones stolen there. But despite the US having more crime in general I’ve never heard of this happening in any US city. You hear that there are certain parts of US cities to avoid, and I’ve heard stories of muggings or bikes being stolen, but nothing about pickpockets. Does anyone have a theory about why this is?
Well, in most major US cities, you're going to be transiting it by car. There are a few exceptions to that, of course (New York, parts of southern California, Vegas), but when everyone's in a car the number of potential marks would be abysmal compared to Europe, where because most people are on foot you both have a much wider selection of targets and crowd cover to help you get away.
Of course, there's probably a substitution effect going on; the equivalent crime in the US is probably carjacking. But then again, stolen cars are a bit more difficult to fence (unless parted out) and get away with if the police are pursuing you, so all else being equal I'd expect there to be proportionally less of those.
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