Porch Pirates On The Prowl In Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — The coronavirus health emergency is causing more and more people to have purchases and gifts delivered to their door this holiday season.

That means more and more of an opportunity for porch pirates on the prowl to make off with your goods.

Swampscott police Det. Ted Delano told Patch on Monday that there have been three reported cases of someone swiping something off the stoop in town in the last week — with one recent theft of items totaling more than $3,900.

"Each year we, unfortunately, deal with people stealing," Delano said. "We try to prevent it. The patrol division is eagerly looking to make sure packages are delivered properly to the addressee and that nobody interrupts the delivery."

Delano said technology has been helpful in some cases where residents have had a Ring doorbell camera or outside surveillance that allows police to identify the person or the vehicle of the person who took the package.

He said Swampscott police also stepping up their neighborhood patrols this time of year looking for people who might be lurking in wait for a delivery truck.

"We do the best we can," Delano said. "We try to warn our residents of things like can do like have things delivered to a back door or a neighbor's house.

"There’s really no shame with (the porch pirates). But we work pretty closely with the delivery companies and their loss prevention departments on security. Everybody is on their toes."

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Package Theft Across the U.S.

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 was among the busiest online shopping days of all time when all sales were 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.

Who Steals A Package?

Men are found to be more likely to be both package thieves and victims of the crime, according to the Finder study. With 5.29 percent of men admitting having stolen a package compared with 0.85 percent of women, men are more than 500 percent more likely to be package thieves than women, the study found.

Seventeen percent of men say a package of theirs was stolen during the past year, compared with 11 percent for women.

Still, 86 percent of the nearly 2,000 participants in the study said they have not experienced a package theft since this time last year.

Prevention Tips

Here are five tips Finder shared to help Americans keep from becoming a victim of a package theft:

• Try curbside pickup: Drive to the store; most of them offer curbside pickup options.
• Use a post office box: This will ensure the package is handled by a professional at the Swampscott post office.
• Video surveillance: Doorbell cameras such as Ring can allow homeowners to scare away the thief in real time.
• Require a signature: This way, the package cannot go unattended.
• Have it sent to your workplace: Public places typically have a greater chance of using security cameras.