The King County Sheriff’s Office is offering some advice to prevent porch pirates during the holiday shipping season:

With people increasingly shopping online during the pandemic, we have seen a resurgence in people reporting stolen packages.

Now more than ever, it’s important to review some safety tips to ensure that you don’t fall victim to opportunistic thieves.

    • Have your packages delivered elsewhere, such as your place of employment, an Amazon delivery site, P.O. box, or FedEx/UPS location. It’s well worth the minor inconvenience to ensure your packages are safe.
    • Request that deliveries require a signature. With carriers like FedEx or UPS, you can often set this preference using your customer account, even if the package is already on its way. In other cases, such as USPS deliveries, you will need to arrange for a signature ahead of time.’
    • Subscribe to delivery alerts. All of the major delivery services offer some kind of notification service for package updates. Opt in to receive the most up-to-date information available.
    • Keep the area around your front porch clear and visible. This is a burglary prevention tip often shared by deputies. Thieves want to be able to get to and from your doorstep undetected. When they’re likely to be seen, they’re more likely to choose another target.
    • If you see something, say something. If you see a suspicious situation such as an unknown person(s) at your neighbor’s porch, or peering in to windows, please don’t hesitate to call 9-1-1. Oftentimes these ‘hunches’ turn out to be very useful for catching burglars and thieves.

 

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...