Heroes: Group of Citizens Who Call Out Pickpockets Targeting Tourists

Not all heroes wear capes. And travel heroes, in particular, come in all shapes, sizes and styles. We’ve gone over some of them before:

• The passenger who learned how to fix lounges’ broken pancake machines
• The flight attendant who tells it like it is
• The people who got petty revenge on lounge chair hogs
• The woman who’s a packing superhero

And now I’ve discovered some new (to me) travel heroes – just everyday people – who confront pickpockets.

Pickpockets have been around for centuries. Using a mixture of smarts, dexterity and distraction, men, women and children make a living by surreptitiously grabbing things from those who don’t suspect it.

Any time you travel, especially to a touristy area, you’re told to watch out for pickpockets. There are plenty of references and bits of advice out there to tell you how to do so. In fact, Rick Steves has a fantastic article about how to outsmart pickpockets.

Well, apparently there are some people in Venice, Italy who had making it their business to warn tourists when known (OK, OK…”suspected”) pickpockets are in the area. And they do it VERY LOUDLY. Like this:

and this:

and even like this:

Their group – about 40 people in total, although it’s been as high as the 200s in past years – is called Cittadini Non Distratti, which translates to “Undistracted Citizens.” And they’ve apparently been doing this for a good 30 or more years.

The group has a presence on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

The premise is simple. Members, who call themselves “Citizens,” walk around Venice, looking for pickpockets.

Most pickpockets in Venice are men. They travel in small groups, trying to look like tourists. They stop when tourists stop, but instead of looking at the sites, their eyes continually look at bags and pockets. The presence of one or more teenagers can be another clue (minors risk lighter punishment than adults).

Their modus operandi is the same as any other pickpocket; distract tourists and take their stuff from pockets and bags when they’re not paying attention. Except the “Citizens” know what these people look like, so they start videotaping and calling them out when they see them taking advantage of tourists.

The “code,” if you will, of the Citizens, is to not accept any payment or payback for doing what they’re doing.

But plenty of tourists sing their praises (keep watching until after the first scene).

The police is aware of what the Citizens do, and, as the department is too short handed to keep up with all the petty crimes the pickpockets are doing, are generally fine with it.

The pickpockets, of course, are not thrilled about the Citizens. So they continually play a cat-and-mouse game with them, not only by avoiding them in the streets, but by lodging complaints on social media that they’re being bullied by these do-gooders.

So yeah…if you’ve been one of the lucky ones who haven’t been pickpocketed in Venice, maybe it’s because of the service of the Citizens.

Feature Photo: Public Domain

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