DEWITT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLNS) — Even though it’s Giving Tuesday, some people are more focused on taking this time of year.
“Porch Pirates” often use the holidays to steal packages left outside your home.
The DeWitt Township Police Department said the ease and accessibility of online shopping make incidents like these much more common.
“It’s a crime of opportunity, more and more people are doing online shopping rather than going out to the store and doing it,” said Matt Merony, the DeWitt Township Chief of Police.”It’s a lot easier to sit at your computer and go on Amazon, type it in, and have it delivered the next day.”
According to police, said they take these types of thefts very seriously.
“We go out and we would take a report, and hopefully the people do have some sort of camera system that did capture it. If we had that, we could do some follow-up, maybe there was a vehicle that was involved,” Merony continued.
Cameras are one of the best ways to protect your packages, but there are other ways to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.
“If you aren’t able to pick it up, or aren’t at home, see if you can have a neighbor or somebody go on over and pick up the package for you. Just so it’s not sitting out there,” Merony said.
Another option is to have the packages delivered to your workplace.
If you live in an apartment complex, you may be able to have your packages left at the leasing office.
Chief Merony said it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“You know, somebody’s expecting that package to arrive and they don’t deserve to have it stolen off their porch,” Merony said.
The police chief added that it’s important to be cautious, but with preventative steps.
“You don’t have to be paranoid, just be aware,” Merony remarked.