On a recent weekday, Diego Galdino was on the hunt for pickpockets in central London, patrolling tourist hotspots for familiar suspects and telltale signs of those about to commit thefts.
Galdino, however, is not a policeman. The Brazilian food app delivery rider has become a popular, social media-fuelled vigilante targeting pickpocketing in the British capital. He started filming—and then trying to disrupt—thieves in action after witnessing several incidents. And his videos on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms under the handle “pickpocketlondon” have proved a hit.
Galdino, from a family of police officers in Brazil, said he has become an expert at identifying likely thieves. They appear well organised, are often women and work in pairs. They mainly target tourists, dressing like them to blend in, he said.
A network of around 20 other delivery riders helps out, sending tip-offs via WhatsApp when suspects are spotted. Once on the scene, Galdino swoops in filming with an attached camera, shouting a signature “pickypockets” warning to sound the alert. “Watch out, pickypockets!” he yells.
His presence is not always welcomed, though, and Galdino said he had faced violence. But focus, adrenaline, and a sense of injustice at the thefts overrode any fear, he said. “I hate this kind of thing,” Galdino added. “These people get up in the morning … (to) steal. They don’t pay tax, they don’t produce nothing to society.” On the streets, locals as well as visitors seemed to appreciate his efforts. Sceptics however, have raised concerns about such vigilante content creators, arguing they are ill-trained to intervene in potentially dangerous situations.
“I’m sure the guy is very well-meaning, but honestly this is not an effective form of crime control,” criminologist Jennifer Fleetwood told AFP‘s Joe Jackson.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan (Labour) says he has increased police presence in central areas to address theft, robbery, and antisocial behaviour.
“We’ll be targeting hotspot areas with both plain-clothed and uniformed patrols, building on the progress we’ve already made,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
While the statement did not mention the Galdino case specifically, it reported a 15.6% drop in “theft from the person” in the six weeks following the boost in patrols, which began on April 6.
Still, police figures show more than 32,000 such thefts were recorded in central Westminster this year to July—an increase from the previous year, and significantly higher than figures from 2022.
