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Gone in six minutes: Pickpockets caught in the act on CCTV footage

It took them just six minutes to choose their victim, have two failed theft attempts and a successful third as the woman was busy shopping.

Published

And now police have revealed this CCTV footage as part of a crackdown on pickpockets in Birmingham city centre.

The video has been published via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Vine to highlight the tactics of thieves as part of the #SpotThePickpocket Twitter campaign, launched by the police in November.

The footage shows four men in a pickpocket pack who thought they had a lucky swipe when targeting an unsuspecting shopper in a Birmingham store.

They chose their female victim within minutes. They had two failed attempts before a successful third.

The men managed to get away with her purse containing £40, but the main offender was caught by the store security who had been watching the incident unfold. He was later arrested.

Sergeant Andy Gregory, from the force's crime reduction team, said: "Theft offences across Birmingham are going down year on year and we believe this is partly down to people being more aware of criminal's tactics through campaigns such as this.

"Our advice is to wear a bag that goes across your body to hold your most valuable items. Never leave your bag unattended and be aware of what's going on around you.

"We constantly have officers out patrolling to prevent people from falling victim to crime ? but we just want to raise awareness so people can also help themselves."

In the last 12 months, 55 per cent of all thefts have been of mobile phones, so the force is encouraging people to keep their valuables safely out of sight and register them on the UK national property register at www.immobilise.com.

The previous #SpotThePickpocket campaign videos have reached over 250,000 views since they were released.

To view all of the videos follow the hashtag #SpotThePickpocket or visit our website www.west-midlands.police.uk/pickpockets

Anyone with information about pickpockets or who sees anything suspicious should call 101 and speak to an officer.

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