Porch Pirates: Protecting your packages and deliveries from thieves
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- With online shopping being so easy, items can disappear from your porch after they're delivered if you're not careful.
It's porch pirate season and KDKA's John Shumway is here with ways to protect yourself.
It can happen in an instant and you're left with no present and no way to track it down.
The packages are coming in daily. In fact, C & R Research says more than half of people get a package per week -- and the bad guys know it.
These bad guys have become known as porch pirates.
"There are people out there who do this almost as a living where they follow delivery trucks," said Detective Sergeant Brian Kohlhepp from the Ross Township Police Department.
"It's definitely something we've seen as a local and a national trend where more and more common packages are being stolen off porches, door steps, apartment complexes," Kohlhepp said.
C & R says that 60% of people know someone who has been victimized, which is why alternative drop-off locations have grown in popularity.
All the major delivery services have drop-off spots, you just have to check their websites.
Having a doorbell camera can help as a deterrent, as professionals often look for homes that don't have them, while the crime of opportunity types looking for a quick hit are oblivious and end up caught on camera.
While those doorbell cameras are catching more and more of the pirates in the act, you're still your own best line of defense.
When you use a delivery service, like UPS My Choice, you can tell them where to leave the package.
"Have whoever put it on a back porch or a side porch or maybe by a garage door, if that's a little more hidden from view," Kohlhepp said.
This type of planning might stop some of the thieves, but not the type who follow the trucks.
Kohlhepp says you should work together with your neighbors, as well.
"If you have someone who is retired or works from home and you can have communications with and even better, if you can get them to retrieve the package when it comes to keep it safe.
Other suggestions include using an alternative delivery location like Amazon hubs, a UPS store, or a Walgreens or Dollar General for drop-off like FedEx utilizes.
The ultimate key is to find out who's delivering your package, setting up where you want it delivered, and then track it to find out when it's arriving.
When porch pirates are caught, often it's because an alert neighbor was able to catch a license plate number on a car.
