Musings from a jewel thief’s journal

Robert A. (Monk) Delaney

Musings from a jewel thief’s journal

Acte 1 Methodology

Methodology behind a “jewel Pick”

A) Observe Subjects at hand

B) Identify Weakness and Risks

C) Make a Calculated, Causal Approach

D) Engage in Conversation

E) Mentally Select the Cleanest Extraction

F) Using various Social Devices, Distract Victim

G) Delicately Begin the lifte

H) Judge for the right moment to carry it off.

I) Discreetly Pocket the Take

J) Stay Close, then Casually Leave

Main Story

In the early 1910s a century olde journal/phamplett on methods of pickpocketing came into Welsh Universities Criminology Archives. It was contained within a collection of outdated files donated by a County Constabulary. These old records were discovered in a forgotten attic partition whilst in the process of moving to a new building.

Catalogued and Filed away

With the rest of the collection, the black leather-covered Journal remained basically unnoticed for decades. That was until a female student looking for material to complete a thesis on criminal justice, stumbled upon it quite by accident

While reading she realized that most of the chapters dealt with the various methods of lifting objects from pockets and purses, along with a section on methods of lifting gentleman’s pocket watches.

Towards the end, she chillingly discovered that the treatise began to explore methods relating to the lifting of ladies' jewellery.

Something she was not aware of was an “art” attempted by pickpocketing!

It pretty much gave the student a whole new insight into an area of crime she had never realized even existed. Also, a fresh new area to explore to make her thesis unique.

She soon decided that a bit of fieldwork may be in order.