Spain: 'Citizen Patrols' target thieves on Barcelona's metro

W/S Citizen Patrol members warning of thieves, Barcelona
M/S Citizen Patrol members warning of thieves
W/S Pickpocket getting caught
C/U Pickpocket
M/S Pickpocket being escorted out
W/S Pickpocket against wall after being pepper-sprayed
M/S Pickpocket against wall after being pepper-sprayed
W/S Citizen patrol denying pickpockets entry to train
SOT, Eliana, Member of Citizen Patrol Barcelona (Spanish): "Well, because of the rising insecurity in the metro and the streets. Well, we only act on the metro. I've been alone for two years and this year I have a patrol and it's all because of the rise of thefts. People are really fed up of this amount of thefts on the metro."
M/S Citizen Patrol walking inside metro holding signs
M/S Citizen Patrol members holding signs
C/U Citizen Patrol member holding sign
SOT, Eliana, Member of Citizen Patrol Barcelona (Spanish): "The baby stroller has come back, with a baby on it. There are all girls, they stopped the baby stroller's wheels, and when people come to help them, the ones that are in the back steal from you. They usually do it on the wagon's entrance to stop tourists and steal from them. There is also the blockage one, one enters, more enter, they turnaround and they create a blockage, this is the famous blockage. There are also thefts from people who are distracted, you go up the stairs with your luggage and they steal from your back, on normal stairs they steal a lot."
W/S Citizen Patrol walking inside metro
W/S Citizen Patrol members warning of thieves
SOT, Eliana, Member of Citizen Patrol Barcelona (Spanish): "Well, most of them [thieves] spit on us, push us, threaten us with death, [they say] I'm going to cut your face and things like that."
C/U Citizen Patrol members warning of thieves inside wagon *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Eliana, Member of Citizen Patrol Barcelona (Spanish): "We are 40 people in the Citizen Patrol that patrol at different times. We organise ourselves on a WhatsApp group. We have a more open group where we look for more people for the patrols."
M/S Citizen Patrol member warning of thieves
W/S Citizen Patrol members warning of thieves
W/S Metro entrance
SCRIPT
A large group of local residents took it upon themselves to create a 'Citizen Patrol' to fight rising crime rates on Barcelona's metro, as footage taken on Friday shows.
Citizen patrols are not new to Barcelona, but given the current rise of pickpocketing crimes, around 40 people orgenised themselves through WhatsApp and different social media channels to hit the metro and warn tourists about thefts in order to prevent them from happening.
"Well, we only act on the metro. I've been alone for two years and this year I have a patrol and it's all because of the rise of thefts," said Eliana, a member of the Citizen Patrol.
The Citizen Patrol operates at the same time as other organisations created by the neighbourhood initiative ROAR (Residents Organisation Against Robbery). Both organisations have been accused of racial profiling while targetting and calling out pickpockets.