For the past 21 years, James has worked for a private security company as a plain-clothes officer in high-street stores, mainly on London’s Oxford Street. He’ll often film the people he detains, either to show to the police or to share with his colleagues over WhatsApp. But since February, he’s found a new home for his footage: his TikTok account, @london_content, which already boasts nearly 100,000 followers.

In his most-watched video, viewed more than 25 million times, an alleged shoplifter can be seen removing items from her skirt, soundtracked to Sam Smith’s “Unholy.” The caption reads simply: “She got caught.” Other videos claim to show people pickpocketing or suggest they might be part of a “begging scam.” Now, on his days off work, James will walk the streets of London in the hope of capturing illegal activity—in other words, more viral fodder for his TikTok.

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