“Be careful, Pickpockets!” Says Diego Galdino to taken aback tourists. This 32 -year -old Brazilian is experiencing success on social networks with his videos where he filmed himself in the process of chasing thieves, against the backdrop of phones flights in London.
This home meal delivery man began by filming thieves commit their misdeeds, before setting them to challenge them. Published on Instagram and Tiktok under the name “PickpocketLondon”, these videos are a dazzling success.
One of them, who shows a thief to spit in his direction, totals more than 12 million views.
These snatching flights – mainly portfolios and phones – are not the prerogative of the British capital. But cellular flights have exploded in recent months. According to London police, a phone is stolen every six minutes.
AFP
In one year, she recorded some 32,000 “firing flights” in the only district of Westminster, which houses museums, the Big Ben clock tower and the Buckingham Palace.
Faced with this scourge, the city has traced a purple line along the very busy sidewalk, with this warning: “Watch out for phone flight!”
Adrenaline
Diego Galdino is the victim of his success.
“My life has changed a lot,” he said to AFP, saying that she is now recognized in the street.
AFP
With experience, Mr. Galdino, who grew up in Brazil in a family of police officers, realized that these thieves are very organized: they are often women who act in pairs and dress like tourists to better blend into the mass, he explains.
About twenty other deliverers help him, sending reports on WhatsApp messaging.
His operating mode is tied: armed with a camera fixed on him, he shouts “Attention, pickpockets!” As soon as he sees a thief about to act.
Interventions that sometimes make him the target of violence. But adrenaline takes precedence over fear, he says, adding to being carried by the “injustice” of these situations.
Londoners and tourists seem to appreciate its action.
“Continue what you do!” Encourages him, 37, a passer -by who recognized him in the street, when AFP follows him in one of his tours.
But this activity also arouses some skepticism.
Spectacle
“I am sure that this young man is well intentioned, but it is not an effective method for fighting crime”, criticism with AFP the criminologist Jennifer Fleetwood, who points to a practice which is only there to “generate click”.
“He’s not going to do this for 10 years, if?” She questions.
The London Labor Mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced that he had strengthened the police presence in the center of the city in order to stem this scourge.
Solicited by AFP, the police said that they will continue to concentrate its patrols “on sensitive areas, based on progress already made”.
She did not wish to comment on the action of Diego Galdino, but highlights a decrease of 15.6% of “flights to the draw” in the six weeks having followed her operation launched on April 6.
For Jennifer Fleetwood, Mr. Galdino’s videos distort reality.
It recalls, with supporting statistics, that these flights are not more frequent in London than in other cities or regions of England.
“I have seen a lot of content on social networks that present London as a hostile or dangerous city. But are we more likely to be a victim of an offense in London? In reality, no! ”She says.
Anyway, Diego Galdino will continue his action.
“I am very happy with what I am currently doing,” he said.