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Thread: How do you handle thieves when you catch them on the scene?

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[quote=CLAUDIUS,276877]Please, as a rule, do not try to overpower the thief yourself. Much of your actions should depend on the circumstances you are in, especially your environment. For a start, snatch thieves are common in Guangdong, especially Guangzhou, where they'd grab your bag/haversack/wallet/cellphone and take off. But in the north, in places like Shenyang, there is a growing trend of thieves committing murder in order to render their victim hapless. In other words, your life is pretty much worth only the pennies in your pocket. They normally use small pocket knives hidden in the palm of their hand or curved blades tied to the end of a wooden pole. They simply slice their victim's throat open from behind. These are stories related by locals, by the way.

The recommended action will be to draw as much attention to yourself, shout or carry with you a small electronic hailer capable of emitting loud and high pitch noise. In a crowd, use the gadget and point to the direction of your thief, stay where you are unless its dangerous to remain so. Only desparados commit crime alone and they will most likely have accomplices where you can't see them.

As a precautionary measure, check out the crime rate and nature of the common crimes in your locality (from the locals). Do not bring excess valuables or cash if you can help it. Your life (and safety) is definitely more important than to risk it on a confrontation.

My experience is that, for high crime rate areas, the security should already be better as the authorities would be keeping an eye. If reasonable security (i.e. constant presence of the police) is not there, it either means they are on the take, or the locals have already understood the unsaid curfew in that area. Either way, there is really little help rendered if you're a victimised. You'll probably spend hours in the local police station recording a statement in Chinese and will never hear from them ever after.

Prevention is much better than cure in China. Sorry for the plagmatic view but this is how I stayed safe while I travel to more than 20 cities all over China since 2002.[/quote]

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