Stuck at home? You may be keeping porch pirates away
With life reoriented around staying, working and shopping from home in 2020, one could surmise an influx of package deliveries would lead to increased opportunity for porch pirates, right? Apparently not.
As the traditional “peak season” for package theft has arrived, some police agencies report that incidents have largely stayed flat or, in some places, even gone down.
“Every year I get ( Ring) doorbell videos from detectives. I haven’t seen any yet this year,” said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna in Santa Ana.
“We haven’t seen — I’m going to knock on wood — haven’t seen an appreciable increase of package thefts in our city,” said Sgt. Rudy Gatto of the Irwindale Police Department. “Our numbers are actually significantly lower than previous years.”
Technology and more people stuck at home, ready to snag their package deliveries, are the primary reasons for the decrease, officials say.
In Woodland, reports of thefts from porches have continued to be brought to the attention of police, but according to Public Information Officer Victoria Danzl, it seems like the cases have decreased.
Whi le piracy may be down, it still hasn’t stopped completely. Late last week, in Davis, detectives from the Community Oriented Policing and Problem- solving Unit, along with patrol officers conducted a routine traffic stop.
The driver, 25- yearold Davis resident Richard Cox, was found to be in possession of a package that was reported stolen earlier in the day from a front porch in the area. Cox had two outstanding felony warrants for his arrest out of Placer County and was arrested for petty theft and identity theft.
“During the holiday season, we tend to see an uptick in package thefts,” the Davis Police Department stated via Facebook. “We encourage everyone to track their deliveries closely. If you expect the package will sit on your porch for an extended period of time, ask a friend or neighbor to pick it up. On occasion, it may be possible to arrange alternate delivery dates from shipping vendors if the package may sit on the porch for an extended period of time. In the unfortunate occurrence of package theft, home video camera systems and/ doorbell camera footage can be a helpful tool for police.”
Video surveillance footage assisted the Davis PD in identifying the suspect and his vehicle.
One new pattern observed by the Covina Police Department is that package thefts now are more common between the hours of 4 p. m. and 2 a. m., according to Sgt. David Rodriguez. This is a switch from traditional daytime opportunists who targeted homes after residents went to work during normal business hours.
Statistics on package theft can be tricky as they show up under the same category as any other theft, according to Bertagna. He and various other law enforcement officials said the issue has not yet been significant enough to separate package thefts into their own category.
But online shopping is booming, according to Bloomberg.
“Customer Growth Partners’ President Craig Johnson, who’d been forecasting 5.8% growth this holiday season to a record $ 749 billion, now says spending in the final two months of the year may actually rise by nearly 7%,” the publication reported on Dec. 1.
The holidays also give thieves the perception that packages must be more valuable — because they’re gifts, according to Ricky Vida, U. S. Postal Inspector. Vida suggested that customers install doorbell cameras or mailboxes that lock.
“When customer s harden the target, thieves move on,” Vida said
As a pro- active measure, the Anaheim Police Department has left “bait packages” equipped with GPS tracking on people’s doorsteps, Sgt. Shane Carringer said. When someone picks up a bait box, the GPS system “wakes up” and patrol units are alerted to its location. The program is one of the few prevention tools the department possesses for package theft, he said, though it’s not always a deterrent.
But criminal charges are “almost always” appropriate when suspects are apprehended with the bait packages, he added.
When ordering online, police agencies say, it’s best to arrange deliveries for a time that someone is home, have a neighbor hold the package for you or use a remote pickup location.
“The longer it sits there the more susceptible it is to being taken,” Carringer noted.
Longtime Alhambra resident Robert Greenburg said while porch piracy has never been much of an issue where he lives, he still likes to help out his neighbors.
“Just the other day, I noticed one of our neighbors had a package delivered and the driver just dropped the box at the house and turned around and ran back to his truck,” Greenburg said. “I called my neighbor because I don’t know how long it would have been out there.”
The deliveryman did not knock or ring the bell, he noticed. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, U. S. Postal Service mail carriers are instructed not to touch any “frequently touched areas,” including doorbells, per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, according to Evelina Ramirez, spokeswoman for USPS of Los Angeles and Orange counties.
She recommended that customers retrieve their mail as soon as it hits their porch or mailbox. Ramirez also encouraged customers to sign up for a free delivery feature notifying customers via email with an image of mail to be delivered.
Mission Viejo resident David Agrela said he relies on his Ring doorbell system.
“I can’t praise the Ring camera with the motion sensor enough,” Agrela said. “Our packages rarely sit unattended for more than a few minutes. It seems to be working so far.”
When ordering online, police agencies say, it’s best to arrange deliveries for a time that someone is home, have a neighbor hold the package for you or use a remote pickup location.