If you caught a pickpocket with your wallet, would it be enough for you to get your property back or would you have to kick their ass?

If the thief is getting arrested, then justice is done. I would only feel like getting violent if they actually spent my money or credit.

I’d want to kick their ass… but I’d be worried that could make my arrest inevitable too. I’d rather they got arrested and I walked away looking like a 100% angel.

I’d be happy just getting my things back regardless of how they’re returned to me. I don’t care if they get mailed, left on my doorstep, turned into the police, or if the thief gets arrested and my items are taken from him/her and given back to their owners.
As long as I get my things back, it’s good by me.

I’m not up for kicking anyone’s ass. Let the police earn their pay. I just want my wallet back.

I’ve never felt the compulsion to kick anyone’s ass, except maybe Ann Coulter. So if Ann Coulter took my wallet, maybe.

oh hell ya..they would get an ass kicking

@Allie- You don’t want them mailed. You’d never get ‘em that way.

Arrest will happen for sure? Just give me back my stuff and I am good.

@AstroChuck Your routes don’t include my town. I’m pretty sure I’d get them back. ;)

If i caught them in the act of doing it, yes i probably would get violent about it. At the very least id break a finger or two of theirs.You dont fuck with another persons shit.

@Allie- I’m j/k. I’m proud of the job we do at our branch.

I would definitely only want my wallet back; there are plenty of people who deserve a whoopin’, but not because they tried to steal a wallet. They might have a very legitimate reason for needing my money, and in some cases I’m not even sure that I would want the person arrested (not unless prisons improve drastically at actually improving the prospects of prisoners upon release). Stealing is not really a viable way to live, but a person does not necessarily deserve to be punished because they see no other way (some do, of course, but I certainly can’t judge which). And @uberbatman, breaking a few fingers, even wanting to, is kind of sick. You really value your money so much that you would want to inflict agonizing pain and possibly permanently cripple the hand of a person who may need money much more than you, just because they tried to take the bit of cash you carry around in your pocket?

Nah. If he was physically hurting me or a loved one, all bets are off though.

Edit: I meant, no I wouldn’t want to beat them senseless.

I wouldn’t do anything to them, I would be glad to get my stuff back. Besides, I take great comfort that someone else will do a better job at kicking butt than I ever could. :-)

Well, at least let them feel ashamed of what they’ve done. Public humiliation can be very effective.

I was once walking the street when I saw a guy right behind me getting pick-pocketed, the victim and his friend chased after him and 50m further they got the guy down on the ground.
A few seconds later the police arrived (Amsterdam, right in front of the central train station)
I think the guy felt pretty stupid as all the people and tourist where watching him. (was also dumb to pick these strong athletic guys to pick-pocket)

If you beat someone up for trying to steal you’re even less human than they are.
(now violence and mugging etc. is a different story.)

I’ve had my purse stolen 3 different times. I would’ve just been happy to have my stuff back, no questions asked. But I had to go through the whole routine of canceling all cards.

@Jayne its not about the money, its about the fact they are taking something from me that isnt theirs.

@uberbatman Isn’t that for the legal system to do?

@uberbatman; but why is that so important? Forgive me if I am being presumptuous, but it is probable that you have always had more than whoever is picking your pocket (that would almost certainly be the case for me), so it’s hardly more unfair that he is trying to take your property than that you have that property in the first place; picking someone’s pocket is just not a very wise means of equalization.

I’m a poor fighter so they would actually be the one’s kicking my ass, so just my stuff back is fine.

@Jayne I’ve worked my whole life for everything I have. I dont see why they cant do the same.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic honestly, i dont trust the legal system for shit. Im not saying id beat the person to a bloody pulp or anything, but id make them regret stealing from me.

I’ve had my wallet stolen and my identity stolen. All I ever wanted back was my name and my property – just for the feeling of being ‘put whole’ again. I’ve been through worse, I’d let the police handle this one.

I wouldn’t really care that much about getting my stuff back, but the most important thing would be to for the justice system to take this person out of action for me.

i also want to add, im an extremely pacifistic person. Ive only been in 2 fights my whole life, neither of which i started. Stealing is just one of those things that rubs me the wrong way though.

I hope I don’t have to explain that in any economic system remotely resembling capitalism, there is no such thing as a level playing field, and prosperity is most certainly not tied directly to effort. Yes, of course there are plenty of people like you who work hard and benefit from it, but there are also many, many people who work their lives away and only manage to survive, or are never given the opportunity to work at all; and faced with such a situation, and the culture that grows out of it, they cannot be blamed for giving up on waiting for ‘honest work’. Of course there are many people that don’t fall into this category, and this applies less in the U.S. than other places, but neither I nor you can know for sure the reasons for the pickpocket’s actions. Best to forgive rather than fuck them up, no?

If he’s getting arrested I’m good. No need to add insult to injury. Or.. insult to insult… however you want to word it.

depends, if I catch him before he steals my stuff, a stern threat is as far as I’d go, but if I catch him making off with my wallet, he’s getting chased down.

@Jayne Forgive? Sure i mean that will clearly set them straight and influence them to never do such things again. Im sure they will think deeply about your forgiveness and turn over a new leaf…...

I dont really see how neither I nor you knowing the reason for their actions makes it an acceptable thing that we should just forgive and forget over.

Let me ask you something jayne, ever have anything stolen from you?

I have been thinking about this question and wanted to add that my peaceful response to this question would not apply if myself or a loved one was injured in the robbery.

@Jayne ”never given the opportunity to work at all; and faced with such a situation, and the culture that grows out of it, they cannot be blamed for giving up on waiting for ‘honest work”

stealing has nothing to do with capitalism, it has to do with morality. they can absolutely be blamed for giving up on morality. There are many people in ever country, many even on this board that have had less than easy lives so far, yet do not, and won’t result to physically, or financially harm others for gain. When one loses all material wealth, the only thing they have is morality and class, those who decide to sacrifice that as well certainly can be blamed.
Granted there are certain instances when stealing an apple or what have you because you may starve to death if you don’t are unfortunate and deserve a sense of pity, for lack of a better word. But pick pocketing, or stealing cars, or breaking into someones home, credit card theft, etc. is a choice they make, absolutely.

I would let the law deal with them but the real problem is that the legal system would tell the thief, “That was very naughty, now don’t do it again” and then turn them loose.

I don’t think most pick pockets or thieves in general are stealing food for their starving children, they are stealing money for their next fix. And probably most are not rocket scientists so they could most likely get a job at MacDonalds if they really wanted to work. But why work when you can steal and get away with it even when you get caught!

If I got my pocket picked, and the perp was arrested, I suppose that would suffice. However, if I were robbed or mugged, I would feel much better having given the guy at least a single punch in the face, catharsis for me, and a stinging “you reap what you sow” for the robber.

Charges, court, jail, probation, parole, these are all everyday things for people likely to snatch your wallet. They continue to be everyday things for them until they are either incarcerated long term, killed, die some other death, or experience the all too uncommon turning of a leaf.

Robbery is not akin in any way to bread theft for a family’s sake, it’s personal, and it’s an act of someone who doesn’t care at all what happens to his victims.

Honestly, if the thief got a misdemeanor charge, a couple days in jail, and some paperwork for robbing someone, would that be enough of a deterrent? Seems not.

If the guy got his nose broken every time he tried that shit, I think we’d have a different result, and at a 100% savings to the tax payers no less.

…yes, I have, my very expensive mountain bike was stolen, and I know that I would not try to break the fingers of the person that stole it, even if I could. I also know that however I might react in the heat of the moment of discovering a pickpocket, does not in any yway influence how I should react. And I don’t think beating someone up would set them on a new path either, just as I agree that forgiveness would be unlikely to do so, as a direct consequence of the fact that people stealing from you are probably doing so out of need, and it is not easy for them to just stop; if anything, they will become more cautious pickpockets. It would not be my goal to reform them; neither would it be my goal to punish them. Their life is out of my hands, and my only prerogative is to keep my own safe.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03; yes, there are lots of people who maintain the morality they were raised with despite their dire circumstances. That is their choice; I do not believe in any absolute morality, and insofar as my de facto sense of morality goes, I consider that theft is a perfectly legitimate way to balance out the inherent unfairness of our economic and social existence. Stealing from random people on the street is a clumsy, short-sighted, and not very fair way to accomplish this, but it is perhaps the most readily available to the criminal on the street. It is an inadvisable path for him to take, for practical reasons, but but not one I would condemn on moral grounds.

Well that settles that. Next time im in need ill just come take from you jayne. You’ll forgive me after all wont you?

That reminds me of a joke:

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realized God doesn’t work that way, so I stole
one and prayed for forgiveness.

I’d probably get some big strong passer-by to beat him up for me

Except I know you don’t need it. The whole point of forgiveness is based on the fact that I don’t know anything about the person’s circumstance. The same does not apply here. And I never said I wouldn’t try to get my stuff back. Now don’t be a dick.

@Jayne remind me never to play poker with you…

I’m not saying an absolute morality certainly exists, I’m almost as nihilist as they come, but it’s a cold day in hell when it’s not seen as a bad thing when one person loses all respect for another. I hope you realize that one day.

@Jayne how do you really know i dont need it though? Really you know nothing about me and my financial situation. I suppose you can say im better off than those who grew up in a ghetto with nothing, but then again they arent the only ones who steal.

We should forgive him too right?

@Jayne and if there’s no set morality, how can you say whether or not he needs something regardless of his finacial circumstance. How do you know there isn’t some underlying psychological aspect that drives him mad and forces him to steal in order to placate his disease? happens all the time and is quite common. Or he could just be a dick who doesn’t like you, either way, you can’t say for certain, so you must forgive him.

do you see the problem with your stance on this?

please remember, if anything I’ve said rubs you the wrong way, I do not intend it as such, unfortunately tone of voice is lost in written word.

No, I wouldn’t harm the pick-pocket. I’d trust the justice system to dole out the punishment. However, if luck would have it that I had a gun on me, I wouldn’t mind putting some real fear in the mother f*****...I suspect they would learn from that lesson.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 and @uberbatman; I don’t know; that’s the point. I don’t go beating people up unless I do know, with certainty, that they deserve it. Our justice system requires that guilt be proven beyond reasonable doubt; why should that same standard not apply to personal justice? I think, for the reasons above, that there is almost always a very reasonable chance that the pickpocket is a decent person who is doing what they need to do to get by, and so I would refrain from attacking them unless I knew that they did not fit this profile. Madoff doesn’t, and I would love to bitch-slap the dude. And I don’t claim that this would be ‘moral’, of course, but it would appeal to my instinctive sense of fairness, which is all that can be said for anyone, whatever their claims.
P.S. I really wouldn’t go beating up anybody no matter the situation, but only because I’m a wimp :)

@Jayne “Our justice system requires that guilt be proven beyond reasonable doubt; why should that same standard not apply to personal justice?” wtf are you talking about… the question assumes i caught the mother fucker pulling my wallet out of my pocket. How the hell is he not guilty? There is NO justifiable reason for stealing. NONE AT ALL.

I’d just be glad to get my things back. Unfortunate for the pickpocket though because if he was caught by the police here, there’s a big chance that he’d get his hands chopped off. If not, surely he’d be put to jail where he’d get raped everyday. Appearing with the pick pocket at the police station and telling the police I forgive him won’t do him any good either. So, I wouldn’t add insult to injury by beating the hell out of him.

@Hambayuti where do you live? Is theft common there or pretty much non existent due to these laws?

i agree so hard with @tinyfaery.

@uberbatman Middle East =] Sure there are thefts going around here but it’s not that common. When one is caught, it becomes headline or something people start talking about for a day.

@uberbatman; I’m not talking about being guilty of theft, but of theft without justification. But I see you believe theft is never justified, and I also see that I will never convince you otherwise. Clearly, if I must operate by that standard, which apparently you expect me to do as you have offered little by way of argument to support this claim, the discussion is trivialized and none of my arguments hold. Thus, we have arrived at an impasse. Ciao.

I would not not kick their ass. I would have no right to do so. It is not my responsibility to punish criminals. I would let the law handle what it is meant to handle.

I’d be relieved to have my wallet back, don’t think I’d feel like hurting that person though.

@Hambayuti i really think thats how it should be here….
@Jayne i suppose. i just dont understand the logic in which you can ever think stealing is justifiable. Thats all.

I’d just want my property back. Depending on their face (and age) I might also add something like “don’t do it again” or try to lecture them. But I probably wouldn’t care enough to bother.

I wouldn’t “kick their ass”. I would certainly chastise them and, maybe, scare the shit out of them, depending on their attitude after being caught – but I’m not one for physical violence.

However, if harm came to my daughter or wife in the act, you’d be eating through a straw for the forseeable future.

I wonder if those of who say they trust the legal system to handle it have had much experience with the legal system. My wife was a probation officer for ten years, and I’m pretty confident not much would happen to this pick-pocket that would deter him.

@cprevite GA

If the suspect was going to be arrested and when he (or she) was it was obvious that they had been beaten would they not be able to drag you in with them on a battery charge?

First, he or she for that matter. Would get their ass kicked. At that point I would take my belongings back and be on my way.
Saving the tax payer money, them not having to waist it on legal and incarceration costs.
And, believe me. That individual would not be pick pocketing any more. Well, maybe after they pulled their fingers out of their ass.

;-)

I’d frankly just be happy to have my belongings back in my possession.

Now, if this person were to steal something of my partner, my friends, my parents etc. or threaten them, I’d probably attempt to break their hips.

I have a chain-wallet that I keep in my front pocket. A pick-pocket would have to practically feel me up to get it. (and then, bust it loose) I guess thats enough to keep most of them away.

This is a tuffy, if he picked my pocket I would probably tell him that he has been caught and I will give him a couple of dollars out of it if he would like, but I would like my wallet back please (the option). Knowing my physical prowess, I know I could catch him immediately if he were to run. And being taught taekwondo from 7 to 13, Akido with my stepfather, alittle Kempo in High School, and deep Kung Fu from my sifu after graduating HS is something to have under your belt. I wouldn’t want to beat the crap out of him just for a wallet, but I would definitely take him down hard after I caught him and take my wallet as he did from me. Just alittle more aggressively than he did.

It depends on whether or not they give me my wallet back with out a fight. Or if they try to run and I catch them, then they might deserve a punch or two. It also depends on how much I have in my wallet.

I’d run down the street, catch them and kick their ass all while getting my wallet back