NWA EDITORIAL: "Porch pirates" can turn shipped packages into a proverbial ship wreck

Holiday season a hot time for porch thieves

Smash-and-grab or "flash mob" robberies have been making headlines on the West Coast and a few other parts of the country. But it's a far simpler form of thievery that lingers wherever packages are being delivered, including our neighborhoods here in Northwest Arkansas.

The perpetrators have come to be known as "porch pirates," but that name almost makes them sound cute, which they are far from. They're not even swashbuckling. They are greedy, sneaky people who prey on the unsuspecting.

It's serious business. Just because it happens in the midst of a transaction doesn't change the fact that real property is being taken by someone it does not belong to.

Of course, this is the time of year when they are most active, as people increasingly purchase merchandise online, whether from Amazon, other websites or individual stores with a presence online.

As a writer in the New York Post recently put it, it's the most plunder-ful time of the year.

The numbers are quite astonishing, according to the reporting from the news side of this operation. A story in last Monday's Democrat-Gazette reported that package theft is that an all-time high. What that means is that 1.7 million packages are stolen or lost every day in the United States, according to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy New York.

Can you imagine a business model that absorbs 1.7 million packages that just disappear every day? That's apparently just another day at the office for Amazon, UPS, FedEx and the other delivery services out there.

For customers, the numbers create a level of uncertainty that eventually will be a serious problem for the home delivery business.

A market research agency known as C+R Research reported the results of a survey that showed the number of people who reported having a package stolen rose from 36% in 2019 to 43% in 2020. Among those who had a package stolen, almost two-thirds say they've been a victim of package theft more than once.

The home security website Safewise found that 210 million packages vanished from porches across the United States over the last 12 months. And although some companies will provide refunds for packages that disappear, who do you think is paying for all of these losses in the end? Sooner or later, it's the consumer.

The problem is so ubiquitous every holiday season nowadays features press releases from local law enforcement agencies warning people about the dangers of leaving delivered packages unattended and offering tips on how to avoid a porch pirate experience that makes you want to scream "aaaaarrrrrgh!"

Officers often call package theft a crime of opportunity, and sometimes it is. But we also know some criminals put considerable thought and effort into creating those opportunities. Is it a crime of opportunity when they follow the delivery truck around waiting to snap up a just-delivered package that might have something of considerable value? And the thief is doing it right there on the victim's front porch.

It's too soon to know if it has any sort of deterrent effect, but we're glad to hear Arkansas legislators made the punishment for stealing packages off the porch a little stiffer. Act 340 of 2021 makes it a class D felony to steal a package from the porch or premises of a residence. Previously the offense was a misdemeanor.

"I supported making this a felony because stealing packages off someone's porch is more serious than a typical theft," Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said. "It violates a person's sense of security at their residence, and it carries with it the risk of a physical confrontation between the thief and a homeowner. Hopefully, treating porch piracy as a felony will deter criminals from committing this crime in the first place."

But really, folks, the best defense is a good offense, which in this case means a good defense.

Thieves don't know what those little brown boxes hold. It might be the latest Ginsu knife or an expensive piece of electronic equipment. They just grab them in the hope that it's something they can use or sell. And for some reason, those of us who have packages delivered act as though the they don't deserve as much protection as anything else we own.

Consider something of value already in your home. Would you dare consider setting it out on your front step and leaving it unattended for hours? Why do it with something you've purchased and, ostensibly, want to possess?

Sure, we know: You're not supposed to blame the victim. But really, are we relying too much on others to prevent the theft of something we've ordered? Why isn't it our responsibility?

In the name of convenience, we are enabling those who would steal from us when there are options to protect us from being victims of their greed.

The larger delivery services have staffed locations where packages can be delivered and picked up later. For example, UPS has its own store locations that can accept package deliveries. Amazon has lockers at some of its Whole Foods stores where deliveries can be kept until the recipient arrives with a code to unlock it. Such options nip porch theft in the bud.

No, none of that is as convenient as just stepping out on one's porch to pick up a package, but it's far more convenient than the trouble of figuring out what to do when a package fails to show up.

Of course, one of the best defenses is having some sort of video monitoring that can at least capture images of anyone stealing a package left at the door. Derrick Spicer with the Siloam Springs Police Department told this newspaper's reporter doorbell cameras are a common way to deter package thieves.

Other tips include having packages delivered to the home of a family member who is expected to be home when the delivery happens; or, if permitted, having packages delivered at a place of employment. It's smart also to use text messaging services to track your packages so that you know when they are delivered. One reason to stay in good graces with neighbors is to be able to call them to ask if they will pick up a package and keep it safe until the homeowner arrives.

The more we rely on these delivery services, the smarter we're all going to have to be about protecting ourselves from thieves who spend a lot of time, apparently, thinking of ways to do dishonest work, if it can be called that.

Once again, honest consumers are left with one solid piece of advice: Let the buyer beware.

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