Undercover team chases pickpockets
A squad of undercover policewomen disguised as bargain-hunting shoppers are patrolling Mongkok to catch pickpockets.
Five female officers, wearing business suits, sportswear or T-shirts and jeans and carrying leather handbags or backpacks, are conducting an operation in shopping malls.
They are not carrying guns but wearing earphones linked to walkie-talkies or mobile phones to communicate with their commanders.
The undercover agents have been assigned to a variety of shopping malls to avoid identification by members of pickpocketing gangs, according to police.
The five policewomen have arrested 18 pickpockets since the squad was established in December, according to their commander, Senior Inspector Petrina Lai Yin-yue of Mongkok police station.
One of the undercover agents, identified as Ah Yuk, said the undercover work was not easy.
'We have to watch for pickpockets and also protect potential victims who do not take good care of their belongings.'
A colleague, Sergeant Kwok Kam-tim, said: 'The primary advantage of using undercover policewomen is that criminals will be less vigilant to our surveillance.'
