More and more Americans are turning to online retailers for holiday shopping
According to Statista, retail e-commerce sales this holiday season are expected to approach $240 billion, a large increase from the $94 billion in sales during the 2016 holiday season.
The shift to online shopping is bringing more deliveries to your front porch, and in turn, more opportunities for criminals to steal those packages before they ever get inside.
There are several ways to keep your packages safe from thieves, and we take a look at them.
Harry Thomas, from Detroit, likes to pick up his packages at the store – either the UPS Store or a FedEx location.
"I didn’t want to take any chances having it mailed to my house because of porch pirates," Thomas said.
In Detroit, porch pirates are already on the hunt. Home security footage on one front porch shows a man nonchalantly swipe a package the day after Thanksgiving. DPD's second precinct is investigating it.
"My daughter, she has had gym shoes, like Nike Jordans, stolen," Malinda Smith said.
Smith keeps an eye on her porch, especially with her Christmas shopping online.
“I would say the majority of it. I would say 90%," she said.
According to C&R Research, 84% of Americans plan to have a package delivered this holiday season, and 34% know someone who had a package stolen.
Security.org estimates 49 million people have had a package stolen within the past 12 months, totaling $2.4 billion in stolen deliveries.
"We notice it increases every year, especially around the holidays," West Bloomfield Deputy Police Chief Curt Lawson said.
He said they get a handful of stolen packages every year.
"For us, a game changer has been residential cameras," he said.
Doorbell or front porch cameras like Ring and Blink can deter criminals and help police make arrests, giving them crucial evidence.
"That really helps us identify suspects, descriptions of the vehicles, get license plates," he said.
Two years ago in Detroit, video evidence gave police a vehicle description of the so-called "Range Rover Porch Pirate," who was eventually caught with numerous packages.
Another serial porch pirate was arrested last year with 41 packages in his car.
"If we don't have suspects, we don't have a description of the vehicle there’s not much you can do," Lawson said.
He also suggests getting a lock box on your front porch, or having the package delivered somewhere secure, with many companies offering new options.
"Amazon has a program where you can go to a specific retailer and you can pick it up at your convenience,” Lawson explained.
Those Amazon Hub lockers are found outside convenience stores and many Whole Foods locations across Metro Detroit. You can find the nearest one by visiting amazon.com/findalocker.
If you fall victim to a porch theft, contact your local police department and provide video evidence if you have it.
