As the holiday season approaches, we should all be paying more attention to a growing phenomenon: porch pirates.
With so many of us doing at least some of our shopping online these days, theft of packages left on doorsteps by Amazon or similar delivery people is of concern to all. A recent survey that I found referenced in articles focused on porch pirates showed that one in four Canadians reported having packages stolen in 2023.
Here in Meaford, like many communities, we have seen an increase in property crimes, with many reporting items stolen from their porches, lawns, and garages over the summer. Often it is items in plain view and easy to steal that are prime candidates for thieves, but sometimes these crooks break into garages during their hunt for items to steal. While some of these property thefts have occurred in the dead of night, many take place in broad daylight, just as the vast majority of stolen packages are taken during the daylight hours, seemingly with little fear of being noticed or caught.
Some of these thieves even follow package delivery drivers along their route, waiting for the perfect time to strike, often just seconds after the packages have been dropped off by the delivery driver.
The opportunities for these parcel thefts drastically increase in the months leading up to the holiday season as consumers use Amazon and other online retailers to do their holiday shopping.
Why we consumers ever agreed to having our online purchases simply dropped off on our porch while we aren’t home has long boggled my mind. I suppose consumers didn’t actually agree to this arrangement, it was what retailers offered. There hasn’t been much choice in the matter, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that delivering millions of parcels to consumers’ porches each day while nobody is home is bound to result in some of those parcels being stolen.
Just as online shopping has become a routine part of our daily lives, so too have home security cameras, many of them built into doorbells. When I was a child in the 1970s and ’80s, home security cameras were virtually non-existent. Banks and some major retailers might have had grainy black and white security cameras, but you wouldn’t find them anywhere else, and certainly not affixed to people’s homes. Today, however, cameras are everywhere. From retail shops,to street cameras, to a growing number of residential neighbourhoods.
I read recently that today we can expect our image to be captured on security cameras 70 times per day. Of course where you spend your time matters, as the larger the community, the more pervasive security cameras tend to be. But even in a small town like Meaford, we can expect to have our image captured on cameras at the gas station, the bank, many retail shops, and now of course as we approach the front door of many homes.
That home security cameras have become far more common doesn’t seem to deter these thieves. Many wear masks to cover their faces while committing these crimes, while others seem oblivious to the fact that cameras exist at all, and simply, and boldly walk up to the front porches of homes to swipe any packages in sight.
It is unfortunate that we even need to worry that parcels might be stolen from our porches, but for as long as we humans have existed, some of us just can’t help but to steal from others.
What can consumers do to protect their purchases from being stolen after delivery? The Better Business Bureau has suggested that consumers not have items shipped to their homes when they are away, but instead have their parcels shipped to an office, a retail shop, or to a friend or relative’s home. They also suggest when possible to select the option of having a signature required for your parcel deliveries. It might slow down the process, it might take two or three attempts for the driver to deliver your parcels, but at least they will be delivered into your hands, not left on your porch.
Of course, the best protection is to do all of your shopping, holiday or otherwise, in person, avoiding the need to have anything shipped to your home. When living in a rural community however, that can mean some long drives to larger communities where many of the largest retailers can be found. Not as convenient perhaps, but if you are concerned about the security of your purchases, probably safer. That said, parking lots of malls and other retail centres can be prime targets for thieves who scour the parked cars in search of bags of goodies to steal. So if you do your holiday shopping in person, be sure to put your purchases in your trunk where they are hidden, and try to park your gift-filled car for as short a period as possible before making the trek back home.
Retailers and delivery companies have also been trying different strategies in order thwart porch pirates. I read recently that Amazon is now offering ‘in-garage’ delivery across Canada. That service however requires a certain amount of trust to be given to the delivery company, as giving them access to your garage when you are away might be just fine 90 percent of the time, but there is good and bad everywhere, and it wouldn’t take much for a shady delivery driver to steal items themselves along their route. Far less likely than an off the street criminal swiping parcels from porches, but still possible, and if you are considering allowing delivery companies access to your garage when you aren’t home, it is certainly a factor to consider.
The occasional theft is to be expected as major online retailers strive to provide fast, often free, shipping, while delivery companies leave packages in plain view on consumers’ front porches, free for the taking by the criminal element in our society. Just another cost to be factored for both retailers and consumers as we approach the holiday season.
