MADISON, Wis. — With so many people shopping online because of the pandemic, we are expected to have a record-breaking year for home deliveries and porch pirates this holiday season.
If your package is stolen, Madison Police Department says to give them a call. But unless you have a witness or video evidence of the person taking the package, it’s difficult for them to track down the suspect.
Right now, MPD says they have received several reports of packages stolen since the Thanksgiving holiday. Just this week, one Madison-area apartment complex has had over 15 packages stolen from residents. In that case, it was all caught on camera.
With these kinds of thefts increasing almost daily, police say there are some steps you can take to avoid having your packages stolen.
“We’re always trying to remind people, not only to lock their doors, but make sure their vehicles are secured either in their garage or driveways and to remove items from plain view,” said Tyler Grigg of the Madison Police Department. “A lot of these crimes — package theft, car theft, and theft from vehicles — are crimes of opportunity. So if we can do our due diligence to mitigate that, that would be in our best interest.”
MPD says you can also coordinate with the delivery company on where you want them to leave your packages, which can help them leave packages in non-obvious locations. Also, invest in a security camera. Grigg says if a thief spots a camera catching them in the act, they usually stop, drop, and run.
“If you are the victim of package theft from a porch pirate, if you do have video evidence of a person taking a package, you can submit them into a local police department,” Grigg said. “We will do our best to try and identify that person and hold them accountable.”
For more tips package safety tips visit Crime Stoppers online.
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