Fighting Pickpocketing using a Choice-based Resource Allocation Model

Inspired by European actions to fight organised crimes, we develop a choice-based resource allocation model that can help policy makers to reduce the number of pickpocket attempts. In this model, the policy maker needs to allocate a limited budget over local and central protective resources as well as over potential pickpocket locations, while keeping in mind the thieves’ preferences towards potential pickpocket locations. We prove that the optimal budget allocation is proportional in (i) the thieves’ sensitivity towards protective resources and (ii) the initial attractiveness of the potential pickpocket locations. By means of a numerical experiment, we illustrate how this optimal budget allocation performs against various others budget allocations, proposed by policy makers from the field.