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Crime prevention experts say you can never be too careful, prepared or aware when it comes to avoiding being victimized while on vacation.
“While you and your family are traveling, it’s important to remember that tourists make tempting targets for thieves,” said Lt. Col. Howard T. Yates, chief of law enforcement at the U.S. Army Europe Office of the Provost Marshal. Travelers who are lost or distracted, weighed down with bags or carrying money and other valuables in obvious places make good targets for thieves.
The best general advice experts offer is that travelers should blend in with the crowd and look like the locals. Clothing, talk or mannerisms should not identify a traveler as American or associated with the military. Inconspicuous baggage is better than military bags or luggage with unit logos.
Pickpockets are very active, especially in major cities and in eastern and southern Europe, PMO officials said. They stalk tourists and strike when their victims are vulnerable.
“If you are jostled, bumped or crowded by anyone, a pickpocket may be in action,” Colonel Yates said.
Also, beware of staged distractions – a person who drops something in front of you or causes a loud commotion. Once you are distracted, the experts say, a thief can steal your valuables and walk away.
A pickpocket may offer to help a traveler load bags onto or off a train and steal something from them in the process, or slit open a backpack and take whatever drops out. Thieves watch travelers buy tickets, food or other items at train and metro stations to see where they keep their wallets or money.
Don’t give thieves an easy target, the experts say.
Colonel Yates recommended that women carry handbags or purses in front of them, not sling them over a shoulder where a wallet can be plucked out. Wallets or cell phones should never be left in coats or jackets hung on coat racks in restaurants or other public places.
Many pickpockets operate in bars and clubs late at night or early in the morning to target those who have had one too many, and take valuables left on the beach while their owner is swimming.
Travelers can contact their local Provost Marshal Office for more security tips or download National Crime Prevention Council pamphlets on vacation and home safety at www.ncpc.org/publications/brochures/home-safety.
