California officials use license plate readers, drones to crack down on porch pirates
With the help of license plate readers and drones, some law enforcement agencies in Southern California are becoming more aggressive in their fight to catch porch pirates.
CBS California Investigates also obtained data from the Los Angeles Police Department that showed, between August 2024 and October 2025, there were 668 cases of petty theft from residential porches. In November 2024, there were 54 and 63 the following month. In February and March 2025, there were 44 reported cases each.
CBS California Investigates obtained data from the Orange County Sheriff's Department between that same 14-month period, which showed that the most reported cases were 19 in December and 10 in July 2025. The county records residential petty theft, but it doesn't specify if items are taken from a porch, like the LAPD.
Irvine Police Chief Michael Kent says property crime is the leading crime committed in his city. In December 2024, there were 84 cases of package theft and 44 in July 2025. To fight crime, Irvine police have been using aerial drones to follow suspects from residential areas and shopping malls.
"The message that we have for the crooks that come into Irvine to commit a crime is, if you're going to commit a crime in Irvine, I promise you this, we're going to find you," Kent said. "We're going to catch you and we're going to hold you accountable for your actions."
Kent added that 71% of the people his officers have arrested don't live in Irvine, which is why the department has leveraged technology like license plate reading cameras.
A woman in Irvine, who asked not to be identified, says she was on a Zoom work call when she got a delivery that was immediately stolen. After her meeting, she checked her Ring doorbell camera and noticed a man had walked away with one of the three packages delivered to her doorstep.
Investigators used license plate readers to help break the case. Her camera captured the theft and her neighbor's camera captured the suspect's license plate, which was uploaded to a license plate reading camera. Officers were eventually able to track down and arrest the suspect.
Officers returned the stolen package to its owner the very next day.
"If you break the law, you need to be prosecuted, you need to be punished," the woman said.
Gene Petrino, the lead security advisor at Security.org, which is a consumer review and research platform, says, "It's a massive problem."
In fact, he says porch pirates have become active during and right after Amazon Prime days, which this year is June 23-26.
"We see about a 40% spike in thefts the week following Prime Day," Petrino says.
According to Security.org, 25% of Americans have experienced package theft. An estimated 37 million packages are expected to be stolen this year, which will be worth an estimated value of more than $8.2 billion.
Petrino says the national average value of a typical stolen package is around $222. He added that these cases are often under-reported and "we're finding about only 25% or so of these crimes are reported to law enforcement."
Experts say the best ways to reduce your risk are:
- Re-route your package to a locker or secured location
- Add visible cameras or motion detector lights
- Schedule drop-offs for when someone is home
