Mat’s bid to tackle pickpocket crime

5 May 2021

An officer with a passion for preventing pickpocket crime is urging members of the public and business owners to be extra vigilant as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.

PC Mat Evans, who has been with the Force for more than 20 years, has teamed up with fellow officers across the nation, as well as those abroad, in a bid to tackle pickpocket culture.

Mat’s dedication to stopping thieves comes after he spent time in a role which specifically saw him analysing the behaviour of pickpocket criminals, resulting in a huge fall in offences.

“These guys are professional criminals. Their job is to keep a low profile,” he explains, “I was part of a plain clothes team that tackled the problem, and we would observe the way these criminals worked, picking up patterns of behaviour, so we could prevent the crime before it was done.”

Mat began to recognise that this type of crime happened nationally, not just in Birmingham and so he started to connect with his colleagues around the UK.

“I started to realise that wherever you went, this was happening,” added Mat, who launched Operation Share which enabled officers across the country to effectively share information on pickpocket crime in their area.

“I could see how big the problem was. What we found was the criminals were going from one county to the next. They were constantly moving, which meant it was more difficult for them to get caught.

“The more we started to share images, the more the same faces would pop up and we began to recognise the regular offenders.”

In the first three months of this year, Operation Share has directly led to the identification of 26 suspected thieves wanted for multiple offences across the UK.

Mat is now also in regular contact with law enforcement agencies and specialist pickpocket units in Europe and North America.

“The thing is, if we go after them and make it more difficult for them, the less keen they will be to do it,” says Mat, who predicts there will be a rise in offences as the country begins to come out of lockdown.

“We’ve already seen numbers rise again and people have been targeting supermarkets a lot more because they’re the only thing open.”

He is asking everyone to remain extra vigilant and asks that people contact the police if they notice anything suspicious.

“Avoid putting phones in loose pockets, coats or hoodies – tighter pockets are harder for stray hands to access – and don’t put handbags on pushchairs,” he adds, explaining the advice given to the public.

“Be wary of people approaching you in the street after you’ve withdrawn cash or made a purchase. Often offenders will claim to be collecting ‘sponsorship’ for a charity but it’s just an excuse to get close and potentially pick your pocket.

“Much of it is common sense but too often I see people making it easier for thieves.”