Preventing package thefts this holiday season

WASHINGTON, Utah (ABC4) - It’s supposed to be the season of giving, but for some, it’s the season of taking.

“One of our citizens ordered some things online, they had a few packages delivered to their home, at their front door, it got a little later in the evening, they hadn’t got their packages yet and a passerby or someone who was looking to do that kind of stuff, saw the packages on the front door, parked their truck, walked up, grabbed them and took off,” says Lt. Kory Klotz of Washington PD.

Lt. Klotz says just over the last few weeks about five porch pirates have stolen citizen’s deliveries.

“Now we have a good suspect on this case, some of the other ones we don’t have much to go on,” he says.

Police say if you’re planning on getting deliveries this week, you may want to invest in some type of video surveillance.

“Even if it’s just a little dummy camera, most people aren’t going to know the different and it may be enough of a deterrent to keep people form coming up on your porch,” says officer Dan Raddatz of Hurricane PD.

Raddatz says porch pirates are usually opportunists.

“If a package is left unattended for too long, unfortunately, that’s an easy way for someone to come across that type of stuff,” says Raddatz.

But these officers say you can prevent it.

“If you’re going through FedEx, UPS, they have delivery options you can change it to deliver it at the store, you can go there to pick it up, change to verify signature,” says Klotz.

“You may be able to have packages shipped to your work place, a P.O. box, or even a neighbors house or a relative’s who you know is going to be home at those times,” says Raddatz.

Police say if you see something suspicious, report it immediately.