‘Porch Pirates’ Steal Holiday Packages as They Pile Up at Homes
Steve Gaut, a UPS spokesman, said public perception of the problem was rising, “driven by the greater use and affordability of home surveillance technology and the pervasiveness of social media and related user-generated social content.” The company does not think there has been a significant increase in the per-capita incidence of package theft, he said,
but many victims never report their problems to the company.
In late November, a nanny in Everett, Wash., chased down package thieves at a home where she was babysitting, nabbing one of them
and holding her until police arrived, according to local media reports.
“One of the outcomes is you’ve got one of the easiest ways to steal something ever,” said Nirav Tolia, chief executive of Nextdoor, a social network for neighborhoods
that has become a popular outlet for residents to gripe about stolen boxes.
By his own estimate, Mr. Armstrong has confronted suspected package thieves more than a dozen times
over the last four years, once on his own porch with the aid of his surveillance system.
Two weeks ago, its Sheriff’s Office ran a sting operation to catch porch pirates,
thieves who swipe packages from Amazon and other companies from doorsteps.
Internet surveillance cameras from Google’s Nest and Ring have made it easier for residents to capture video of package thieves in the act.