Package Thieves Lurk In Bolingbrook As Holidays Approach

BOLINGBROOK, IL — As consumer buying habits shift to online shopping, porch pirates in Bolingbrook are lurking, ready to pounce on holiday and other packages left at the door by delivery services. A new report shows 36 percent of Americans had a package stolen at least once in the past 12 months.

In Bolingbrook, package thefts occur, but they are not frequent, said Lt. Anthony Columbus.

"Due to the Uniform Crime Reporting, we are unable to categorize package thefts separate than all thefts reports," he said. "We do receive approximately 12 reports per year with a slight increase during the holidays."

To avoid package thefts, the Bolingbrook Police Department suggests the following preventive steps:

• Have your package delivered to your work.
• Have your package delivered to the home of a relative or friend that you know will be home.
• Have your package held at your local post office for pickup.
• Take advantage of "Ship to Store" options that many stores offer. Amazon offers a “locker” feature that allows you to pick up your package from a secure location.
• Request that your package has signature confirmation upon delivery.
• Ask your carrier to place packages in an area out of plain view.
• Opt for curbside pickup at a local store.
• Schedule packages to arrive when you're home, then track their progress.
• Install a front door security camera or video doorbell.

More than 5.5 million Americans have been victimized by package thefts over the past year, according to Finder, a personal finance comparison website, in a study released in November.

About $5.4 billion worth of items were stolen in package thefts from November 2019 to November 2020, the Finder determined. Because of the busy online shopping month of December, that number is likely to grow by the end of the year.

Fewer people were in the nation’s malls on Black Friday, and Cyber Monday is expected to become the busiest online shopping day of all time when all sales are totaled, according to The Associated Press.

Overall holiday season sales in 2020 are expected to rise 0.9 percent, with a 36 percent jump in online sales, a study by the research company eMarketer shows. Porch pirates could see a prime opportunity to take advantage of the expected spike in packages left at front doors.

They usually get away with it, too. Only 11 percent of victims said the culprits were caught, according to a 2019 study by C+R Research.