I spy with my little eye ...

Area police tout security benefits of doorbell cameras.

For porch pirates, a rooming house on the 400 block of Pierce Street in Bethlehem was the gift that kept on giving.

In one week in December, 13 packages were reported stolen from the porch of the home, where 12 residents come and go. Some had expensive items like jewelry and cologne, Bethlehem police Chief Mark DiLuzio said.

And with no video surveillance to speak of in the area, the case — like many others — remains open.

“They’re open season for anyone driving by,” DiLuzio said. “If it isn’t wrapped and under your Christmas tree, someone will steal it.”

That wasn’t the case this season in east Allentown, where Colleen Kramm has a small camera installed just above her door.

She had all of her Christmas gifts shipped to her home on East Woodlawn Street, including a new iPhone that sat on her

porch for at least four hours — untouched.

“It was just waiting for somebody to come pick it up, and no one did,” she said.

Are doorbell cameras or porch monitoring systems the solution?

The short answer: Relatively affordable options are available, and police say they absolutely help solve crimes. But each product has different bells and whistles that ultimately come down to a matter of a personal cost-benefit analysis.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Allentown police are trying to identify this man in a porch theft investigation. The images were captured on a homeowner's security camera.